THE  SHORT  COURSE  SERIES 


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!-Lh  LbN. .EN  PSALMS 


GIFT   OF 


IA 


THE   SHORT  COURSE   SERIES 


THE    LENTEN    PSALMS 


GENERAL    PREFACE 


THE  title  of  the  present  series  is  a  sufficient 
indication  of  its  purpose.  Few  preachers, 
or  congregations,  will  face  the  long  courses 
of  expository  lectures  which  characterised 
the  preaching  of  the  past,  but  there  is  a 
growing  conviction  on  the  part  of  some 
that  an  occasional  short  course,  of  six  or 
eight  connected  studies  on  one  definite 
theme,  is  a  necessity  of  their  mental  and 
ministerial  life.  It  is  at  this  point  the  pro- 
jected series  would  strike  in.  It  would 
suggest  to  those  who  are  mapping  out  a 
scheme  of  work  for  the  future  a  variety  of 
subjects  which  might  possibly  be  utilised  in 
this  way. 

The  appeal,  however,  will  not  be  restricted 
to    ministers    or    preachers.      The    various 

volumes  will  meet  the  needs  of  laymen  and 

•• 
11 


General  Preface 

Sunday  School  teachers  who  are  interested 
in  a  scholarly  but  also  practical  exposition 
of  Bible  history  and  doctrine.  In  the  hands 
of  office-bearers  and  mission-workers  the 
"  Short  Course  Series '  may  easily  become 
one  of  the  most  convenient  and  valuable 
of  Bible  helps. 

It  need  scarcely  be  added  that  while  an 
effort  has  been  made  to  secure,  as  far  as 
possible,  a  general  uniformity  in  the  scope 
and  character  of  the  series,  the  final  re- 
sponsibility for  the  special  interpretations 
and  opinions  introduced  into  the  separate 
volumes,  rests  entirely  with  the  individual 
contributors. 

A  detailed  list  of  the  authors  and  their 
subjects  will  be  found  at  the  close  of  each 
volume. 


in 


Sbort  Course  Serteg 


EDITED    BY 

REV.  JOHN  ADAMS,  B.D. 


THE 

LENTEN  PSALMS 


BY 

THE    EDITOR 


«    • 

»        i    , 


NEW  YORK 

CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 

1912 


CONTENTS 


PSALM  VI  FACE 

THE  CHASTISEMENT  OF  LOVE  t  •        * 

PSALM  XXXII 
THE  BITTERNESS  OF  SIN    .  .  •  J7 

PSALM  XXXVIII 
THE  DIVINE  ARROWS         .  .  .  33 

PSALM  LI 
AN  IDEAL  PRAYER  .  .          .  .  49 

PSALM  CII 
THE  DIVINE  MEMORIAL     .          .          .          .67 

PSALM  CXXX 

DE  PRO  FUND  is         .  .  •  .  -85 

PSALM  CXLIII 
A  PENITENT'S  ANTHOLOGY  .  .  .  .103 

vii 


30,3959 


SINCE  the  time  of  Origen,  Seven  Psalms  have  received 
the  name  of  Penitential  Psalms.  They  were  placed 
together  in  the  Roman  Breviary ;  and  Pope  Innocent 
in.  ordered  their  recitation  at  Lent.  Indulgences 
were  promised  to  those  who  recited  them.  One 
historical  allusion  may  be  cited.  "  In  his  sick 
chamber  at  Hippo,  Augustine  lay  dying.  It  was 
a  plain  and  barely  furnished  room  in  which  he  lay. 
The  Penitential  Psalms,  however,  were  by  his  order 
written  out,  and  placed  where  he  could  see  them 
from  his  bed.  These  he  looked  at  and  read  in  his 
days  of  sickness,  weeping  often  and  sore.  Thus, 
with  his  eyes  fixed  upon  the  Psalms,  Augustine 
passed  to  his  rest,  August  28th,  430."— PROTHERO. 


Vlll 


PSALM    VL 


- 


THE  CHASTISEMENT  OF  LOVE. 

No  more  fitting  plaint  could  be  put  into 
the  lips  of  any  pious  sufferer  than  this 
pathetic  strain  from  the  harp  of  Israel — 
especially  when  sung  to  one  of  the  minor 
tunes  of  our  time  -  honoured  Scottish 
Psalter.  "  Is  any  among  you  afflicted  ? 
Let  him  pray."  Nay,  adds  Matthew  Henry, 
"let  him  sing  this  psalm  " — 

"Lord,  in  Thy  wrath  rebuke  me  not; 
Nor  in  Thy  hot  rage  chasten  me. 
Lord,  pity  me,  for  I  am  weak  : 
Heal  me,   for  my  bones  vexed  be." 

Calvin,  in  his  last  painful  illness,  tried  to 
do  so.  He  uttered  no  word  of  complaint 
unworthy  of  a  Christian  man,  but,  raising 
his  eyes  to  heaven,  he  would  say,  in  the 
language  of  verse  3,  "  O  Lord,  how  long — ? ' 
leaving  his  unfinished  prayer  in  the  sudden 
silence  of  this  arresting  aposiopesis.  The 

3 


The  Lenten  Psalms 

deepest  notes  in  human  experience  are 
minor  notes.  Down  in  the  human  heart 
are  chords  of  music,  truer,  richer,  and  more 
spontaneous  than  all  the  major  and  popular 
melodies  by  which  a  modern  civilisation 
has  tried  to  cheat  us.  They  are  like  the 
minor  tones  in  external  Nature — 

"Loud  from  its  rocky  caverns,  the  deep-voiced  neigh- 
bouring ocean 

Speaks,    and,    in    accents    disconsolate,    answers    the 
wail  of  the  forest." 

The  wail  of  the  forest,  the  disconsolate 
accents  of  ocean,  the  monotonous  chant  of 
the  waterfall,  the  bleating  of  flocks  among 
the  hills,  and  the  weird-like  call  of  the  moor- 
fowl  among  the  heather — all  these  seem  to 
be  pervaded  with  a  suggestion  of  autumn's 
sadness ;  and  we  are  made  to  feel  that  the 
nearer  we  get  back  to  Nature  the  more 
appropriate  become  the  minor  tunes  and 
plaintive  melodies  of  these  penitential 
psalms.  The  elegy,  the  wail,  the  dirge,  are 
not  the  lowest  form  of  musical  composition  ; 
and  as  the  Hebrew  Psalter  is  a  faithful 
transcript  of  the  human  heart  in  all  its 

4 


The  Chastisement  of  Love 

moods,  pious  sufferers  have  continued  to 
come  to  this  song-book  of  ancient  Israel, 
and  have  drawn  from  its  strains  of  penitence 
and  devotion  a  comfort  which  is  Divine.  In 
the  present  psalm  there  are  three  key- 
words which  may  help  to  elucidate  its 
teaching. 

i.    CHASTISEMENT. 

"Neither  chasten  me  in  Thy  hot  displeasure." 

The  Psalmist  is  face  to  face  with  the  truth 
which  has  played  so  large  a  part  in  the 
discipline  of  the  world,  that  "  whom  the 
Lord  loveth  He  chasteneth,  and  scourgeth 
every  son  whom  He  receiveth."  He  does 
not  rail  against  chastisement  as  such.  He 
knows  that  Jehovah  chastens,  sometimes  in 
love,  and  smites  that  He  may  save.  Every 
true  child  of  the  Kingdom,  therefore,  may 
well  kiss  the  rod  that  smites  him  ;  for 
while  no  chastening  for  the  present  seemeth 
to  be  joyous,  but  grievous,  nevertheless 
afterward  it  yieldeth  the  peaceable  fruit  of 
righteousness  unto  them  which  are  exercised 

5 


The  Lenten  Psalms 

thereby.  Still  there  is  chastening  and 
chastening.  The  Psalmist  did  not  believe 
that  all  Divine  punishment  or  reproof  was 
intended  for  reformation.  There  might 
be  visitations  of  God  in  just  anger — visita- 
tions which  could  only  be  regarded  as  tokens 
of  the  Divine  alienation  and  wrath.  And 
while  the  devout  sufferer  was  quite  willing 
to  submit  to  the  former — to  the  chastise- 
ment of  love — he  does  shrink  appalled  from 
the  severity  of  the  latter,  and  exclaims, 
like  Jeremiah,  "  O  Lord,  correct  me,  but 
with  judgment :  not  in  Thine  anger,  lest 
Thou  bring  me  to  nothing " :  or  with 
Christina  Rossetti — 

"Wilt  Thou  accept  the  heart  I  bring, 

O  gracious  Lord  and  kind, 
To  ease  it  of  a  torturing  sting, 
And  staunch  and  bind  ? 

Or  if  Thou  wilt  not  yet  relieve, 

Be  not  extreme  to  sift : 
Accept  a  faltering  will  to  give, 

Itself  Thy  gift." 

The   resignation  and  shrinking  contained 

6 


The  Chastisement  of  Love 

in  a  cry  like  this  forecast  the  awe-inspiring 
alternatives  of  Gethsemane.  "  If  it  be 
possible,  let  this  cup  pass  from  Me  :  never- 
theless not  as  I  will,  but  as  Thou  wilt." 
If  a  Father's  hand  wield  the  rod,  I  will  try 
to  kiss  the  rod  that  smites  me  ;  but,  O  Lord, 
chasten  me  not  in  Thy  hot  displeasure,  for 
I  could  not  endure  the  severity  of  the 
blow. 

And  then,  as  if  to  suggest  the  reflection 
that  the  chastisement  had  been  carried  too 
far  already,  he  spreads  out  his  wretchedness 
in  the  sight  of  God's  great  pity,  and  paints 
it  in  all  the  sad  colouring  of  the  autumn. 
"  /  am  withered  away  " — as  a  flower.  The 
scorching  winds  of  adversity  have  blown 
across  my  garden  ;  the  biting  frosts  of 
hostility  have  nipped  my  foliage  in  the  bud  ; 
or  like  a  fragile  flower  bereft  of  the  rain 
and  sunshine,  I  trail  my  faded  blossoms 
in  the  dust.  Yea,  "my  bones  are  vexed." 
By  a  slight  variation  in  the  figure,  he  points 
to  the  influence  of  his  calamity  upon  the 
physical  framework  of  the  body.  His  very 
bones  which  are  the  strength  and  stability 

7 


The  Lenten  Psalms 

of  the  bodily  frame  are  shaken  or  agitated 
with  terror  as  the  result  of  his  inward 
perplexity.  And  "my  soul  also  is  sore 
vexed.1'  In  soul,  no  less  than  in  body,  I 
am  like  a  bruised  reed  :  and  instead  of 
there  being  any  alleviation  of  my  suffering 
the  leaden  hoofs  of  adversity  would  trample 
me  still  further  into  the  mud.  Until  at 
last,  with  something  like  reproach  in  his 
voice,  he  lifts  his  eyes  to  the  infinite 
Personality  which  seemed  so  callous  to  his 
suffering,  and  exclaims,  "  And  Thou,  O  Lord, 
how  long —  ? '  Is  this  an  action  worthy 
of  Thee,  O  Lord,  to  allow  a  poor,  bruised 
reed  to  be  broken  utterly,  or  the  dying, 
smouldering  flax  to  be  utterly  quenched  ? 
Is  this  an  attitude  in  keeping  with  Thy 
manifold  mercy,  or  a  discipline  at  all  in 
harmony  with  the  gracious  chastisement  of 
Thy  love  ?  "  O  Jehovah,  how  long —  ?  ' 
And  then  his  heart  fails  him  for  words, 
the  unfinished  petition  being  left  in  the 
eloquence  of  its  incompleteness.  He  has 
spread  out  his  state  of  misery  in  the  presence 
of  Divine  compassion,  and  then  with  this 

8 


The  Chastisement  of  Love 

abrupt,    half-broken    cry,    "How  long,"  he 
leaves  it  with  God. 

This  is  what  all  devout  souls  may  aspire 
to  do.  Deeply  conscious  of  the  chastening 
hand  of  their  God  upon  them,  they  may 
creep  up  to  the  Divine  footstool  and  raise 
their  eyes  to  heaven,  like  wounded  animals 
crawling  up  to  the  feet  of  their  master  and 
looking  up  into  his  face  with  great  eyes 
of  pain.  Their  suffering  is  a  deep  they  may 
never  hope  to  fathom,  but  they  can  bring  it 
into  the  presence  of  Him  who  is  both  justice 
and  love,  and  believe  that  in  the  plenitude 
of  His  mercy  He  will  not  only  bring  forth 
their  righteousness  as  the  light,  but  cause 
the  flower  which  was  trailing  its  blossoms 
in  the  dust  to  unfold  once  more  its  petals 
in  the  sunshine.  This  is  the  deeper  meaning 
of  the  Divine  chastisement  of  love  :  it  is 
big  with  the  promise  of  what  may  yet  be. 

2,    LOVINGKINDNESS. 
"  O  save  me  for  Thy  lovingkindness'   sake." 

This  is  the  Psalmist's  perfect  plea 
when  thinking  on  the  possible  mitigation 

9 


The  Lenten  Psalms 

of  his  pain.     He  falls  back  with  confidence 
on  Jehovah's  covenant  love.     For  the  love 
of  God  in    choosing    and  blessing  Israel    is 
the  theme  and  joy  of  all  the  sacred  writers. 
He    delights    in    mercy.      He    is    ready   to 
forgive.     He  keeps  not  His  anger  for  ever. 
Let  Him  be  true,  then,  to  His  own  nature  ! 
Let  His  self-revelation  in  act  be  consistent 
with  the  inner  graciousness  of  His  motive  ! 
For,  to  give  another  turn  to  the  Psalmist's 
thought,     would     not    the    Divine    loving- 
kindness    be    deprived    of    a    part    of    its 
legitimate    praise    if  the   present   prayer   of 
the  singer  should  be  left  unanswered?     His 
physical     vigour,     as     already     noted,    was 
drooping    and    fading   away   like    a   flower. 
It  was    being  impaired    by  the    severity   of 
his     afflictions ;    and    unless    it    could    be 
delivered    from    the    secret    causes    of    its 
decay,  what    hope    was  there    that  it  would 
be  continued    in  the   land  of  the   living  at 
all?     It  would  die,  and  be   given    over    to 
the  gloomy  abode  of  the    dead  ;  and   then 
the    days   of  praising    God's   mercy    would 
once  and  for  all  be  ended. 

10 


The  Chastisement  of  Love 

"  For  in  death  there  is  no  remembrance  of  Thee : 
In  Sheol  who  shall  give  Thee  thanks  ? " 

It  is  clearly  implied  in  this  plea,  that  the 

Psalmist    believed    that   Jehovah    cared    for 

men's  praise.     And  why  not  ?     God  is  love 

— compassionate  and  eternal  love  ;  and  praise 

on  the  part  of  man  is  simply  the  proof  that 

this  love  of  God    has    been    responded   to. 

Joy  in  men's  praise,  therefore,  is  but  joy  in 

men's   love,  and   joy  in  men's  love    is    but 

the   recognition    that    God's    love  for    them 

has   not    been    manifested    in   vain.      Hence 

the  Psalmist   prays  for  freedom  from    trial, 

not  as  an   end  in  itself,  but  as  a  means  to 

a  further    end — the  end    of  celebrating  the 

mercy  of  Jehovah  in  the  land  of  the  living. 

He    longs    to    escape    as    a    bird    from    the 

darkened  cage  of  adversity,  that  he  may  rise 

and  sing  in  the  sunshine  of  the  Divine  favour. 

Freedom  from  affliction  is  not  everything  :  it 

is  freedom  that  we  may  praise — freedom  that 

we  may  come,  as  in  another  psalm,  and  say : — 

"  I'll  bring  burnt-offerings  to  Thy  house, 

To  Thee  my  vows  I'll  pay, 
Which  my  lips  uttered,  my  mouth  spake, 
When  trouble  on  me  lay." 

II 


The  Lenten  Psalms 

Alas,  the  feeling  of  dejection  depicted  in 
verses  6  and  7  is  sufficient  evidence  that  this 
earnest  cry  for  freedom  has  not  as  yet  been 
answered.  The  sense  of  his  own  misery  again 
wins  the  mastery.  And  instead  of  soaring 
aloft  as  the  eagle,  the  strong  wings  of  his 
hope  seem  to  be  struck  with  paralysis,  and  it 
flutters  down  into  the  valley  below,  where, 
overpowered  by  the  consciousness  of  its  own 
hapless  condition,  it  has  no  reassuring 
thought  of  the  Divine  nearness  at  all.  In 
these  two  verses  the  name  of  God  is  not 
even  mentioned,  and  the  manifestations  of 
his  sorrow  are  so  excessive  that  we  find  it 
difficult  with  our  undemonstrative  Western 
temperaments  to  give  him  credit  for  the 
anguish  conveyed  in  his  words.  Not  only 
did  he  set  his  bed  afloat  with  his  unmeasured 
weeping,  but  he  melted  his  couch  and  wasted 
away  his  eyes  until  they  became  "bleared 
and  dim  like  those  of  an  old  man."  And 
all  this  because  of  his  enemies — all  this 
because  of  those,  who,  taking  advantage  of 
God's  chastening  hand  upon  him,  were 
exulting  in  his  calamity,  and  longing  for 

12 


The  Chastisement  of  Love 

his  utter  ruin.  It  is  a  dark  picture  ;  but 
it  proves  to  be  the  darkness  which  precedes 
the  dawn.  With  this  sombre  reflection,  he 
gathers  up  all  that  can  be  said  of  his  grievous 
and  bitter  trial,  and  prepares  the  way  for 
the  sudden  burst  of  sunshine  with  which 
this  penitential  psalm  concludes. 

3.  DELIVERANCE. 

"  The  Lord  hath  heard  the  voice  of  my  weeping." 

Lux  in  tenebris  is  the  one  descriptive 
phrase  that  can  really  do  justice  to  the 
change  effected  in  this  man's  experience. 
Immediately,  like  a  flash  of  light,  the  con- 
viction has  come  to  him  that  the  eloquence 
of  his  tears  has  been  heard  in  heaven.  A 
great  confidence,  begotten  by  the  Spirit  of 
God,  has  visited  his  soul,  and  he  knows  as 
by  the  certainty  of  a  Divine  inspiration  that 
his  time  of  bitter  weeping  is  at  an  end.  He 
uses  the  perfect  tense — what  the  Hebrew 
grammarians  call  the  "  perfect  of  certitude  "  ; 
for  while  his  bodily  disease  is  not  yet  lifted, 
and  while  the  dark  prison  walls  of  hostility 

13 


The  Lenten  Psalms 

are  not  yet  removed,  a  whisper  from  the 
eternities  has  visited  this  man's  spirit,  and 
he  knows  that  the  hour  of  his  Divine  de- 
liverance has  already  struck.  None  of  his 
detractors  are  aware  of  the  swift  advance  of 
the  dawn,  but  the  voice  of  the  dawn  is 
already  in  his  heart,  and  he  can  gaze  at 
the  hilltops  now  being  flushed  with  the 
coming  glory,  and  say,  "The  Lord  hath 
heard  the  voice  of  my  weeping." 

This  song  of  penitence,  therefore,  like  all 
sanctified  affliction,  has  ended  in  the  assur- 
ance of  God's  covenant  love.  It  began 
differently.  Like  a  mountain  stream  it  was 
turbid  and  broken  at  the  first,  but  gradually 
it  has  calmed  and  cleared  as  it  flowed,  until 
now,  at  the  close,  it  loses  the  voice  of  its 
weeping  in  the  assurance  of  the  Divine  com- 
passion, just  as  the  flowing  streamlet  is 
stilled  in  the  fulness  of  the  sea.  It  began 
with  the  chastisement  of  love,  and  ends  with 
the  drying  of  every  tear  ;  and  in  view  of 
these  facts,  enemies  can  do  nothing.  He 

o 

that  is  for  us   is  infinitely  more    than  they 
who  may  be  against  us.     Therefore — 


The  Chastisement  of  Love 

"  Depart  from  me,  all  ye  workers  of  iniquity ; 
For  Jehovah  hath  heard  my  prayer." 

Ye  workers  of  iniquity  !  Is  it  right  for  us 
to  speak  of  our  detractors  in  that  way  ?  and 
especially  to  add,  as  in  verse  10,  "Let  them 
all  be  ashamed  and  sore  vexed  :  let  them 
return  and  be  ashamed  suddenly '  (A.V.). 
Even  to  modify  this  grim  desire  by  taking 
the  verbs  as  simple  futures,  and  rendering 
with  the  R.V.  : — "  All  mine  enemies  shall 
be  ashamed  and  sore  vexed,"  is,  in  no  sense, 
a  sentiment  in  keeping  with  the  spirit  of 
redeeming  love.  From  this  point  of  view, 
Professor  Duhm  is  probably  correct  when 
he  says  that  "  for  reading  at  a  Christian 
sick-bed,  this  psalm  is  not  suitable."  In 
the  school  of  Jesus  we  are  taught  to  give 
our  enemies  a  place  even  in  our  prayers. 
"Pray  for  them  that  despitefully  use  you 
and  persecute  you."  Hence  if  any  one 
would  use  the  phraseology  of  this  psalm 
to-day,  it  must  be  in  a  very  different  sense 
from  that  of  the  Psalmist.  "  Let  them  be 
ashamed  and  sore  vexed  " — not  in  the  sense 
of  destruction,  but  of  moral  reformation. 


The  Lenten  Psalms 

"  Let  them  return,  and  be  ashamed  suddenly," 
as  their  blinded  eyes  are  opened  to  the 
patience  and  tenderness  of  the  Divine  love  ; 
until  bowing  in  submission  to  Him  who  is 
the  Anointed  of  the  Father,  they  may  pass 
at  last  with  us,  from  the  minor  melodies 
of  these  penitential  psalms  to  the  higher 
symphonies  of  heaven.  That  is  the  world- 
wide charity  as  taught  in  the  Christian 
Evangel.  The  Lord  give  us  grace  thus  to 
dry  our  tears  1 


16 


PSALM    XXXIL 


B  T7 


THE  BITTERNESS  OF  SIN. 

SIN  is  the  one  element  in  human  experience 
that  refuses  to  be  ignored.  Through  super- 
ficial views  of  its  nature  or  sheer  indifference 
to  the  fact,  we  may  come  to  sayy  like  some 
in  the  Apostolic  age,  that  we  have  no  sin 
(i  John  i.  8)  ;  but  we  gain  nothing  by  this 
assertion  of  our  ignorance  or  apathy.  The 
well-known  device  of  the  ostrich  does  not 
save  it  from  the  weapon  of  the  hunter,  and 
the  mere  shutting  of  one's  eyes  to  the  reality 
of  evil  does  not  make  it  vanish,  but  delivers 
us  all  the  more  surely  into  its  power.  Sin, 
according  to  Seneca,  is  the  "  universal 
insanity."  It  is  a  dark  and  dismal  night- 
shade casting  a  gloom  over  every  department 
of  human  life.  Grace  may  change  the  nature 
of  a  man,  but  nothing  can  change  the  nature 

19 


The  Lenten  Psalms 

of  sin.     Enemies   may   be    reconciled,    but 
enmity  cannot,  and  sin  is  enmity. 

Some  of  the  details  in  Ps.  xxxii.  5,  as 
given  in  the  Hebrew,  are  most  suggestive — 

My  sin  I  began  to    make  known,   and  mine  iniquity 

have  I  not  hid  : 

I  said,  I  will  confess  my  transgressions  unto  the  Lord  ; 
And   Thou — Thou  forgavest  the  iniquity  of  my  sin. 

[Selah.] 

Like  the  entire  psalm,  it  enumerates  the 
steps  by  which  the  Psalmist  rose  into  the 
blessedness  of  the  forgiven  state  ;  and  we 
may  profitably  analyse  its  teaching  a  little 
more  in  detail. 

i.  THE  NATURE  OF  SIN. 

The  expression  "  sin '  is  the  first  word 
in  this  Hebrew  verse,  and  also  the  last, 
the  musical  addition  "  Selah '  not  being 
regarded  as  an  integral  part  of  the  verse.  It 
is  placed  in  this  position  for  the  sake  of 
emphasis  ;  for,  unlike  Ps.  vi.,  which  never 
mentions  the  subject  of  sin  at  all,  Ps. 
xxxii.  introduces  this  topic  as  its  leading  and 

20 


The   Bitterness  of  Sin 

characteristic  note.  So  strongly  did  some 
of  the  Masoretes  feel  this  that  they  pointed 
the  first  word  with  an  emphatic  accent. 
They  wished  to  represent  to  eye  and  ear 
what  was  already  felt  to  be  present  in  reality, 
that  sin  was  the  dominant  idea  in  this  psalm, 
and  that  both  melody  and  syntax  might 
justly  be  requisitioned  to  emphasise  the 
truth. 

And  is  this  not  the  teaching  of  etymology  ? 
In  this  one  verse  no  fewer  than  three  Hebrew 
words  are  employed  to  designate  moral  evil. 
And  while  etymologically  they  are  all  figura- 
tive terms,  transferred  from  the  physical 
sphere  to  the  ethical,  they  furnish  in  their 
combination  a  fairly  exhaustive  summary  of 
the  Bible  doctrine  of  sin.  Probably  the  most 
distinctive  epithet  is  the  term  "transgres- 
sion ' '  or  rebellion — a  conception  which  traces 
sin  to  its  fruitful  source  in  the  will  of  the  in- 
dividual. It  is  not  simply  the  thought  of 
lawlessness,  in  the  sense  of  defection  from 
a  prescribed  law  ;  it  is  rather  a  voluntary  act 
of  self-assertion  in  opposition  to  the  will 
of  a  superior.  It  is  withdrawal  from,  or 

21 


The  Lenten  Psalms 

rebellion  against,  the  Lawgiver  (cf.  Ps.  li.  4). 
Beginning  with  this  as  its  starting-point,  the 
subsequent  development  of  moral  evil  is  not 
difficult  to  trace.  It  is  iniquity.  It  is  a 
course  crooked  and  perverse  ;  and,  therefore, 
well  chosen  to  denote  the  tortuous  path  of 
the  rebel,  who,  instead  of  following  the  straight 
route  for  the  attainment  of  man's  chief  end, 
wanders  zigzag  over  the  desert  and  never 
reaches  his  destined  goal.  This  is  the  precise 
thought  introduced  by  the  third  term,  sin. 
It  means  that  the  slinger  has  failed  to  hit  the 
mark,  or  the  traveller  to  reach  his  destination  ; 
for,  having  begun  wrong,  he  cannot  end 
right,  and  the  forsaker  is  himself  forsaken. 
Obviously  the  man  who  could  multiply  these 
terms  in  order  to  depict  his  moral  malady 
had  no  superficial  views  regarding  its  nature 
and  influence.  The  disturbing  presence  of 
moral  evil  had  invaded  the  sphere  of  the 
conscience. 

Verses  3,  4,  show  how  cutting  a  lash  the 
conscience  may  become  in  driving  home 
the  truth  of  personal  guilt.  Everything 
seemed  to  go  wrong.  The  heart  was  ill  at 

22 


The  Bitterness  of  Sin 

ease.  The  concealment  of  the  sin  was  well- 
nigh  unbearable.  The  conscience  was  filled 
with  a  thousand  thorns  to  prick  and  sting 
him.  And  as  conscience  is  the  voice  of 
God,  it  never  ceased  to  arraign  him  day  and 
night  before  God's  judgment  bar.  This  was 
one  of  the  ways  in  which  the  enormity  of 
his  sin  had  come  home  to  roost.  Conscience 
is  the  worm  that  never  dies. 

2.  THE  CONFESSION  OF  SIN. 

In  verses  3,  4,  as  already  noted,  the 
Psalmist  was  forced  to  admit  that  if  he 
foolishly  kept  silence  regarding  his  sin,  he 
was  constrained  to  cry  out  because  of  his 

misery — 

"  When  I  kept  silence,  my  bones  waxed  old 
Through  my  roaring  all  the  day  long." 

The  cry  of  misery,  however,  is  not  always 
the  birth-throes  of  a  deep  and  genuine 
confession.  Many  a  sufferer  cries  out  in 
anguish  who  has  no  intention  of  recognising 
the  hand  that  smites  him,  or  of  admitting 
the  essential  justice  of  the  visitation.  Con- 

23 


The  Lenten  Psalms 

fession  of  sin  is  rendered  possible  only  when 
the  afflicted  one  is  made  to  feel  the  depth  of 
his  demerit,  and  begins  to  acknowledge  to 
himself  or  others  the  grievous  character  of 
his  backsliding.  And  this  is  the  exact 
meaning  of  the  incipient  imperfect  which 
is  here  employed  by  the  Psalmist — "  My 
sin  /  began  to  make  known  " — the  tense  of 

o 

the  verb  graphically  representing  the  nascent 
confession  in  the  very  act  of  beginning.  It 
had  not  as  yet  assumed  the  form  of  a  direct 
appeal  to  Jehovah  ;  for  probably  we  ought 
to  omit  "  unto  Thee '  with  the  Septuagint. 
The  man  had  only  reached  the  initial  stage 
of  his  confession,  as  he  tried  to  make  plain 
to  his  own  heart  and  conscience  the  peculiar 
heinousness  of  his  sin.  But  the  second 
stage  speedily  followed.  The  more  he 
realised  the  presence  of  the  foul  intruder 
which  had  usurped  his  inmost  being,  the 
more  he  determined  to  drag  it  forth  into 
the  open,  and  expose  it  to  the  searching 
glance  of  Him  who  is  of  purer  eyes  than 
to  behold  evil.  "  I  said,  I  will  confess  my 
transgressions  unto  the  Lord  " — until  now, 

24 


The  Bitterness  of  Sin 

as  the  gracious  result,  he  bows  in  the  felt 
presence  of  Jehovah,  a  guileless  and  tran- 
sparent life  :  "  Mine  iniquity  have  I  not  hid." 
This  is  the  true  nature  of  confession.  It 
includes  the  heart,  the  speech,  and  the  life. 
It  begins  with  a  secret  resolution  in  the  soul, 
which,  by  and  by,  finds  expression  in  a  direct 
appeal  to  Jehovah  ;  but  the  consequences 
of  the  completed  action  are  continued  into 
the  present,  and  the  Psalmist  can  speak  of 
the  blessedness  of  the  man  "  in  whose  spirit 
there  is  no  guile  ' '  (ver.  2). 

Absolute  sincerity,  in  other  language,  is 
the  mark  of  all  true  confession.  There 
must  be  no  attempt  to  deceive  either  one- 
self or  God.  "  If  we  say  that  we  have  no 
sin  "  we  are  deceiving  ourselves,  and  the  truth 
is  not  in  us.  But  if  we  confess  our  sins  — 
if  we  come  as  the  blind  man  came,  and 
stand  in  the  presence  of  the  great  Healer, 
like  the  prepared  plate  in  the  camera  ready 
to  receive  the  impress  of  heaven's  light, 
the  blessing  of  forgiveness  is  not  withheld 
— "  He  is  faithful  and  righteous  to  forgive 
us  our  sins  and  to  cleanse  us  from  all  un- 

25 


The  Lenten  Psalms 

righteousness."  Such  penitents  are  sincere. 
They  have  no  fold  in  their  character.  They 
are  fervent  and  transparent  in  their  prayer. 
Their  singleness  of  aim  is  reflected  in  the 
urgency  of  their  supplication.  "  Behold  an 
Israelite  indeed,  in  whom  is  no  guile." 

3.  THE  FORGIVENESS  OF  SIN. 

"And  Thou — Thou  forgavest  the  iniquity  of  my  sin." 

The  student  will  note  the  aoristic  use  of 
the  perfect  and  the  emphasis  impressed  on 
the  pronoun  "  Thou."  They  combine  to 
enforce  the  truth  that  Jehovah  was  more 
willing  to  forgive  the  returning  penitent 
than  the  man  himself  was  to  come  and  solicit 
the  blessing.  The  Psalmist  was  reviewing 
the  various  steps  in  his  confession — how 
behind  the  transparent  attitude  of  his  present 
was  lying  the  verbal  appeal  which  he  had 
addressed  to  Jehovah,  and  behind  the  actual 
presentation  of  his  prayer  the  initial  resolu- 
tion of  the  heart  ;  and  there  at  the  beginning 
of  it  all,  like  heart  answering  heart  in  an 
inner  sanctuary,  the  Divine  response  was 

26 


The   Bitterness  of  Sin 

granted  to  the  silent  appeal,  and  the  penitent 
entered  into  the  blessedness  of  the  man 
whose  transgression  is  forgiven,  whose  sin 
is  covered.  As  in  the  teaching  of  the  Pearl 
of  Parables,  the  father  had  not  waited  for 
the  verbal  confession  of  the  prodigal  son. 
He  beheld  the  lonely  figure  a  great  way 
off;  and  before  a  single  word  had  fallen 
from  his  lips,  the  tears  of  an  undying 
affection  were  falling  upon  his  neck.  "  I 
said,  /  will  confess  .  .  .  and  Thou — Thou 
forgavesf  the  iniquity  of  my  sin." 

The  nature  of  the  forgiveness  is  fully  set 
forth  in  verses  i,  2.  If  no  fewer  than  three 
Hebrew  terms  were  required  to  describe  the 
sin,  no  fewer  than  three  similar  figures  are 
necessary  to  depict  the  remedy.  It  is  at 
once  the  lifting  of  a  burden,  the  covering  of 
a  foul  stain,  and  the  cancelling  of  a  debt. 
The  burden  is  removed,  as  in  Bunyan's 
immortal  allegory  ;  the  stain  is  hidden  out 
of  sight,  as  by  the  love  that  covereth  a 
multitude  of  sins  ;  and  the  debt  having  been 
wiped  out  by  the  exercise  of  sovereign 
mercy,  is  no  longer  reckoned  against  the 

27 


The  Lenten  Psalms 

offender  as  a  dreaded  liability  to  punishment. 
And  as  all  this  is  described,  at  least  in  verse  i, 
by  the  use  of  the  Hebrew  participle,  we  have 
a  form  of  expression  which  is  eloquent  with 
meaning  as  to  the  origin  and  continuity  of 
the  forgiven  state.  The  passive  participle 
describes  the  subject  as  having  the  action 
continually  exercised  upon  him.  Blessed, 
then,  is  the  man  who  abides  in  this  state  of 
forgiveness  ;  for  both  in  origin  and  result 
the  two  lines  of  development  approach  and 
coincide.  What  began  as  aorists  in  the 
completed  acts  of  the  past  ("  I  said '  .  .  . 
"  thou  forgavest ")  is  continued  as  present 
perfects  or  passive  participles  into  the 
spiritual  conditions  of  the  present ;  and 
the  continuity  of  the  one  is  reflected  in  the 
continuity  of  the  other,  like  the  blue  of  sea 
and  sky  in  their  unity. 


4.  THE  BLESSEDNESS  OF  THE  FORGIVEN 

STATE. 

Not  even   the  sound  of  the  raging  flood 
shall  be  allowed  to  invade  its  sanctity.     This, 

28 


The  Bitterness  of  Sin 

according    to    the    brilliant    emendation    of 
Lagarde,  is  the  meaning  of  verse  6 — 

"  For  this  let  everyone  that  is  godly  pray  unto  Thee  in 

the  time   of  distress ; 

The  sound  of  the  flood   of  mighty  waters    shall  not 
come  nigh  unto  him." 

We  think  of  one  like  Jeremiah  fleeing 
from  the  men  of  Anathoth  in  chap.  xii.  1-5. 
Casting  himself  down  in  some  remote  spot 
overlooking  the  valley  of  the  Jordan,  he 
brooded,  like  Elijah  under  the  juniper  tree, 
on  the  violence  by  which  he  had  been  assailed, 
and  questioned  the  ways  and  acts  of  Eternal 
Providence.  But  hark !  wafted  on  the 
night  wind  came  the  noise  of  a  foaming 
flood.  The  "  swelling  of  Jordan,"  as  in 
the  floods  of  autumn,  was  sweeping  in 
furious  volume  to  the  sea.  And  the  far-ofF 
boom  was  enough  to  strike  even  a  strong 
man  with  dismay.  For  was  it  not  suggestive 
of  something  far  more  ominous  and  forbid- 
ding ?  What  if  that  distant  sound  should 
give  place  to  the  dreaded  reality  ?  and  the 
prophet,  one  day,  had  to  pass  through  the 
dark  flood  itself  ?  "If  thou  hast  run  with  the 

29 


The  Lenten  Psalms 

footmen  and  they  have  wearied  thee,  then 
how  wilt  thou  contend  with  the  horsemen  ? 
And  if  thou  hast  faltered  and  trembled  even 
at  the  fords  in  summer,  what  wilt  thou  do  in 
the  autumn  spates  ? ' 

It  is  only  the  man  who  is  strong  in  the 
assurance  of  covenant  mercy,  who  can  give 
the  answer  of  this  psalm,  that  even  the  sound 
of  the  flood  of  mighty  waters  shall  not  come 
nigh  unto  him.  Like  the  Accadian  penitent 
he  has  said,  "  In  the  waters  of  the  raging 
flood  take  his  hand  "  ;  and  now  in  the  rapture 
of  a  Divine  forgiveness,  there  is  no  sound  to 
him  save  one — he  is  compassed  about  with 
"  songs  of  deliverance  '  (ver.  7).  No  need 
for  him  to  stop  his  ears  with  wax,  like  the 
Grecian  sailors,  that  the  siren  voices  of  evil 
or  the  sound  of  the  raging  flood  should  not 
come  nigh  him  !  A  Divine  Orpheus  is  on 
board  dispensing  music  in  the  night,  and 
every  other  strain  is  drowned  and  lost  in  the 
rapture  of  that  triumph  song. 

Nay,  the  man's  fellowship  with  the  Divine 
is  something  deeper  still,  and  the  finest  of 
Bible  imagery  may  well  be  chosen  to  express 

30 


The   Bitterness  of  Sin 

it.  Not  simply  the  reflection  of  sea  and 
sky,  however  beautiful  they  are  in  their 
unity  ;  and  assuredly  not  the  relation  of  a 
man  to  his  beast,  as  so  graphically  depicted 
in  verse  9  ;  but  that  deeper  and  more 
spiritual  communion  of  a  father  and  son,  as 
eye  meets  eye,  and  soul  looks  into  soul, 
in  an  act  of  age-long,  covenant  love. 

"  I  will  instruct  thee  and  teach  thee  in  the  way  which 

thou  shalt  go, 
/  will  Jix  upon  thee  Mine  eye." 

Obviously,  one  may  rightly  speak  of  the 
blessedness  of  the  forgiven  state.  It  is  free 
from  alarms  by  night,  encircled  with  song 
by  day,  and  characterised  by  deep,  spiritual 
communion  while  life  lasts — in  a  word,  com- 
passed about  by  Divine  mercy,  as  in  verse  10  ; 
who  would  not  seek  to  rise  into  the  fulness 
of  so  rich  an  experience,  and  lose  the  bitter- 
ness, if  not  the  consciousness,  of  sin,  in  the 
glad  ascription  of  praise  with  which  this 
penitential  psalm  concludes — 

"Be  glad  in  the  Lord,  and  rejoice,  ye  righteous: 
And  shout  for  joy,  all  ye  that  are  upright  in  heart." 

31 


The  Lenten  Psalms 

In  conventional  phrases,  it  may  be,  but 
with  a  deep,  spiritual  fervour  that  redeems 
and  beautifies  the  whole,  the  songs  that 
thrilled  the  Psalmist's  heart  are  now  to  be 
caught  up  and  chanted  by  the  entire  Church. 
For  in  this  grand  "  Hallelujah  Chorus  '  of 
exultant  adoration  and  praise,  the  penitence 
of  the  pious  in  Israel  is  to  be  glorified. 


PSALM   XXXVIII. 


33 


THE  DIVINE   ARROWS. 

"  For  Thine  arrows  stick  fast  in  me, 

And  Thy  hand  presseth  me  sore"  (ver.  2). 

THE  verbs  employed  in  this  verse  are  two 
different  forms  of  the  same  Hebrew  root, 
meaning  to  descend  ;  cf.  the  rendering  "  lighted 
on  "  in  the  margin  of  the  R.V.  In  no  sense, 
however,  does  this  do  justice  to  the  reflexive 
force  of  the  original.  The  arrows  do  more 
than  descend.  They  hurl  themselves  down 
with  such  force  that  they  stick  fast  in  the 
quivering  flesh  like  living  things  endowed 
with  volition.  And  the  animation  of  the 
second  clause  is  no  less  striking  in  its  im- 
agery. Instead  of  taking  the  term  "  hand  ' 
as  the  subject  of  the  verb,  the  Septuagint 
reads  it  as  the  object,  and  lifts  the  thought 
from  the  dire  weight  of  the  chastisement  to 

35 


The  Lenten  Psalms 

the  personal   agency   of   Him   who  inflicted 
it — 

"Thou  hast  laid  Thine  hand  upon  me." 

The  one  who  had  bent  his  bow,  and  shot 
his  arrows  from  afar,  was  not  content  to 
remain  at  a  distance.  He  had  drawn  near 
to  his  afflicted  servant,  and  laid  an  oppressive 
hand  upon  his  life.  The  poisoned  arrows 
rankled  in  the  wounds,  and  the  pressure  of 
the  Divine  hand  was  heavier  than  he  could 
bear  :  and  thus  in  words  almost  identical  with 
the  first  penitential  psalm,  he  exclaims — 

"  O  Lord,   rebuke  me  not  in  Thy  wrath, 
Neither  chasten  me  in  Thy  hot  displeasure." 

The  subject-matter  of  the  entire  psalm  may 
be  arranged  as  follows  : — 

i.  THE  DIVINE  ARROWS. 

Beginning  with  the  element  of  disease  in 
his  own  person  (vers.  3,  5-8,  10),  he  passes 
to  that  of  desertion  on  the  part  of  his  friends 
(ver.  n),  and  of  malice  (ver.  12)  or  even 
scorn  (ver.  1 6)  on  the  part  of  his  foes :  and 

36 


The  Divine  Arrows 

the  reader  is  left  to  infer  that  these  were  the 
arrows  that  fell  thick  and  fast  around  the 
Psalmist,  and  buried  their  poison-dipped 
barbs  in  his  life.  We  may  scan  the  realistic 
imagery  a  little  more  in  detail. 

(i)  Disease. — The  malady  with  which  he 
was  afflicted  is  depicted  in  the  most  grue- 
some colours :  and  probably  some  of  the 
details  are  best  understood  in  a  symbolical 
sense.  But  as  physical  suffering  is  con- 
stantly regarded  as  a  mark  of  the  Divine 
displeasure,  there  can  be  no  question  that  a 
considerable  part  of  the  Psalmist's  descrip- 
tion may  be  taken  quite  literally.  It  was  a 
loathsome,  painful,  and  exhausting  disease. 
The  repulsive  character  of  the  sickness  is 
sufficiently  marked  in  verse  5.  "  My  wounds 
stink  and  are  corrupt."  They  were  as  foul- 
some  as  those  of  the  patriarch  whose  ulcers 
bred  worms  (Job  vii.  5),  and  who  sat  down 
on  the  village  ash-heap  to  scrape  himself 
withal  (ii.  8).  So  intense,  indeed,  was  this 
feeling  of  repulsion  that  the  language  of  the 
Verona  MS.  would  not  have  come  amiss  to 
the  afflicted  one's  lips,  when  it  bids  him  say 

37 


The  Lenten  Psalms 

at  the  close  of  verse  20 — "  They  have  cast 
me  forth  .  .   .  as  a  loathed  corpse/' 

And  yet,  deep  as  this  feeling  of  aversion 
is,  it  is  entirely  eclipsed  by  the  element  of 
intense  suffering.  He  speaks  of  himself  as 
being  "  bent '  or  contorted  by  the  violence 
of  the  pain  (ver.  6)  ;  as  consumed  by  a 
burning  fever  which  inflamed  and  licked  up 
the  life-blood  (ver.  7)  ;  until  faint  and  sore- 
bruised  by  reason  of  its  severity,  he  moaned 
aloud  in  the  disquietude  of  his  heart,  or 
groaned  like  the  roaring  of  a  lion  (ver.  8). 
This  is  the  reading  of  Hitzig  and  others, 
who,  by  a  slight  change  in  the  Hebrew 
vowels,  would  read  "  a  lion  "  instead  of  "  my 
heart."  Hence  as  the  concluding  element 
in  the  Psalmist's  grievous  malady,  the 
corruption  and  the  pain  together  ended  in 
an  exhaustion  which  was  simply  tragic  in  its 
completeness. 

"  My  heart  throbbeth,   my  strength  faileth  me : 
As  for  the  light  of   mine  eyes,  it  also  is  gone  from 


me." 


This  was  the  first  arrow  which  had  hurled 
itself  down  on  the  afflicted  Psalmist.     The 

38 


The  Divine  Arrows 

iron  of  bodily  disease  had  been  driven  into 
the  quick. 

(2)  Desertion  (ver.    u). 

"  My  lovers  and  my  friends  stand  aloof  from  my  plague ; 
And  my  kinsmen  stand  afar  off." 

Instead  of  the  expression  "  my  plague ' 
which  recalls  the  ashen  spot  of  the  leper 
(Lev.  xiii.  3),  the  Septuagint  reads  "  they 
draw  near  " — a  figure  which  no  less  forcibly 
reminds  us  of  the  drawing  near  of  Job's 
three  friends.  They  drew  near  the  suffering 
patriarch,  wrestling  as  he  was  with  his  dark 
problem  ;  but  biased,  as  they  were,  by  their 
preconceived  opinions,  they  were  totally 
incapable  of  helping  him  in  his  sorrow. 
They  were  near  in  person,  but  leagues 
asunder  in  sentiment ;  and  therefore  their 
empty  harangues,  in  the  way  of  argument, 
were  but  "  words  of  wind  '  (xvi.  3).  It  is 
the  same  picture  of  utter  desolation  which  is 
found  at  Job  xix.  13-22.  The  members  of 
his  own  family,  the  children  on  the  highway, 
and  his  own  familiar  friends  in  whom  he 
trusted — all  despised  the  sorrow -stricken 

39 


The  Lenten  Psalms 

patriarch,  because,  as  they  believed,  he  had 
been  deserted  by  Jehovah.  This  was  the 
keenest  pang  of  all.  Men  were  such 
sycophants  that  they  only  dared  to  trample 
on  the  bruised  reed  after  they  had  made  sure 
that  heaven  had  first  set  down  the  heel. 
"  Why  do  ye  persecute  me  as  God  ? '  This 
was  the  second  arrow  which  buried  its 
poisoned  barb  in  the  Psalmist's  life.  Like 
the  patriarch  of  Uz,  he  had  been  set  at 
naught  both  by  kinsman  and  friend. 

(3)  Hostility  (ver.   12). 

"They  also  that  seek  after  my  life  lay  snares  tor  me; 
And    they    that    seek    my    hurt    speak    mischievous 

things, 
And  imagine  deceits  all  the  day  long." 

The  first  two  lines  form  an  exact  parallelism 
dealing  with  hostility  in  act  and  hostility  in 
speech  ;  and  then  a  third  member  is  added, 
dealing  with  hostility  in  motive,  either  as  an 
expansion  of  the  second  line  in  the  paral- 
lelism, or  as  the  necessary  explanation  of 
the  whole.  It  is  the  former  of  these 

40 


The  Divine  Arrows 

alternatives  which  is  suggested  by  the 
English  punctuation,  but  the  Hebrew 
accents  are  in  favour  of  the  latter.  Beneath 
the  outward  hostility  of  violence  and 
calumny  is  found  the  inward  plotting  of 
deceit.  And  the  antagonism,  as  thus 
depicted,  is  closely  allied  to  mockery 
(ver.  1 6) — 

"When    my    foot    slippeth    they    magnify    themselves 
against  me." 

"When  men  are  in  calamity,"  says  Bacon, 
"  if  we  do  but  laugh  we  offend."  But  the 
Psalmist's  foes  had  no  such  scruple.  They 
beheld,  as  they  conceived,  the  marks  of 
Divine  disfavour  resting  upon  his  life,  and 
they  magnified  themselves  against  him, 
rejoicing  in  his  calamity  (cf.  Obad.  12). 
And  all  this  constituted  the  third  arrow 
which  penetrated  and  stuck  fast  in  his 
quivering  frame.  In  act,  speech,  and  inward 
motive  he  was  assailed  by  the  hostility  of 
his  foes. 


The  Lenten  Psalms 

2.  THE  POISON  IN  WHICH  THEY  WERE 

DIPPED. 

"  There  is  no    health    in    my    bones,   because   of  my  sin 

(ver.  3). 

This  was  the  virulent  poison  in  which  the 
arrows  had  been  dipped.  They  irritated 
and  inflamed  the  wounds,  because  they  had 
aroused  the  sense  of  sin  within  the  man's 
own  conscience.  In  other  words,  the 
external  ills  that  harassed  and  embittered  his 
life  had  constrained  him  to  turn  inward,  and 
down  at  the  roots  of  character  and  conduct, 
like  a  worm  at  the  root  of  the  tree,  he  found 
the  malignant  presence  of  moral  evil  which 
had  dwarfed  and  impoverished  the  whole. 
To  adapt  the  words  of  the  paraphrase — 

"  The  sting  was  sin  and  conscious  guilt, 
'Twas  this  that  arm'd  thy  dart : 
The  sin  gave  pain  its  strength  and  force 
To  pierce  the  sinner's  heart." 

From  this  as  centre,  the  chastened  thought 
of  the  Psalmist  runs  out  in  various  directions. 
In  verse  4>  he  dwells  upon  the  magnitude  of 

42 


The  Divine  Arrows 

the  evil.  It  was  like  a  flood  which  went 
over  his  head,  or  a  heavy  burden  which  over- 
whelmed and  crushed  his  spirit.  Other 
evils,  compared  with  this,  were  merely  pass- 
ing shadows  flitting  across  the  landscape, 
but  this  was  the  great  eclipse  shutting  out 
the  sunshine,  and  making  the  day  dark  with 
night.  Disease,  desertion,  and  mockery 
were  all  directed  against  the  Psalmist,  but 
what  was  disease  to  iniquity,  what  is  de- 
sertion to  ungodliness,  and  what  is  ridicule 
or  idle  scorn  to  the  consciousness  that  the 
man  himself  is  not  right  with  God  ! 

"  The  spirit  of  a  man  will  sustain  his  infirmity ; 
But  a  wounded  spirit  who  can  bear  ? ' 

These  might  be  the  arrows  that  hurled 
themselves  down  upon  the  man's  truest 
well-being,  but  this  was  the  poison  in  which 
the  arrows  had  been  dipped.  And  it  is  the 
poison,  and  not  the  arrows,  that  inflicts  the 
damage  ;  the  sin,  and  not  the  calamity,  that 
leaves  its  sting. 

Hence  in  verses  13,  14,  we  have  still 
another  turn  to  the  Psalmist's  thought.  He 

43 


The  Lenten  Psalms 

resolves  to  keep  silence  even  in  the  presence 
of  his  detractors — 

"  But  I,  as  a  deaf  man,  hear  not : 
And  I  am  as  a  dumb  man,  that  openeth  not  his  mouth." 

He  is  resigned  and  patient,  like  the  ideal 
Sufferer,  as  though  he  did  not  hear  the 
insults  (Isa.  liii.  7)  ;  or  like  a  dumb  man 
he  makes  no  answer  as  though  he  had  no 
power  to  rebut  them.  "  Let  him  alone," 
said  David,  when  reviled  by  Shimei,  "  it 
may  be  that  the  Lord  will  requite  me  good 
for  his  cursing  of  me  this  day.  So  David 
and  his  men  went  by  the  way  :  and  Shimei 
went  along  on  the  hillside  over  against  him, 
and  cursed  as  he  went,  and  threw  stones  at 
him,  and  cast  dust"  (2  Sam.  xvi.  12).  The 
Lord  hath  bidden  him — that  was  enough. 
The  fugitive  king  bowed  his  head  to  the 
arrows  that  rained  upon  him.  As  a  dumb 
man  he  opened  not  his  mouth. 

3.  THE  HAND  THAT  SHOT  THEM. 

"  There  is  no  soundness   in   my  flesh,  because  of  Thine 
indignation*     (ver.    3). 

Not  only  does  he  look  within  to  find  the 

44 


The  Divine  Arrows 

fever  of  moral  evil  inflaming  and  consuming 
the  life-blood  :  but  he  also  looks  above  to 
find  in  the  fact  of  the  Divine  displeasure  the 
ever-efficient  cause  of  his  calamity.  He 
traces  his  hapless  condition  to  the  direct 
agency  of  Jehovah.  And  because  he  does, 
he  discovers  another  reason  for  conducting 
himself  with  humility  before  his  foes.  He 
could  afford  to  be  silent  towards  men,  for 
Jehovah,  the  God  of  Israel,  would  not  be 
silent  towards  him. 

"In  Thee,   O  Lord,   do  I  hope; 
Thou  wilt  answer,   O   Lord  my  God'     (ver.  15). 

Not  that  this  well  of  comfort  was  suggested 
by  the  punitive  side  of  the  Divine  discip- 
line. The  indignation  depicted  in  the  earlier 
verses  could  only  wring  from  him  the  prayer, 
that  mercy,  and  not  judgment,  might  be 
allowed  to  triumph  at  last.  But  there  was 
this  other  side  to  the  Divine  leading  or  dis- 
cipline. It  was  chastisement,  the  proof  of 
love.  Gradually  the  Psalmist  has  arisen  to 
this  higher  conception,  and  appealing  from 
the  Wrath  to  the  Love — from  the  Hand  that 

45 


The  Lenten  Psalms 

smites  to  the  Heart  that  bleeds  even  when 
it  punishes,  he  is  able  to  say  like  our  own 
Crashaw — 

"  But  Thou  giv'st  leave  (dread  Lord)  that  we 
Take  shelter  from  Thyself  in  Thee : 
And  with  the  wings  of  Thine  own  dove 
Fly  to  Thy  sceptre  of  soft  love." 

It  is  this  higher  conception  that  leads  the 
way  to  a  deep  and  genuine  repentance.  The 
depth  is  determined  by  the  height.  Because 
he  has  soared  high,  and  gazed  even  for  an 
instant  on  the  ineffable  vision,  he  is  also 
constrained  to  dig  deep  and  grapple  with 
the  awful  turpitude  of  moral  evil.  He  is 
plunged  into  the  profound  depths  of  self- 
abasement.  Consequently  there  is  some 
ground  for  the  contention  that  verse  1 8  ought 
to  be  inserted  after  verse  1 5,  that  after  the 
assurance  so  confidently  expressed  in  the 
latter,  the  resolution  to  acknowledge  his 
iniquity  is  at  once  theologically  tenable  and 
psychologically  sound. 

"In  Thee,  O  Lord,  do  I  hope: 
•         ••••••• 

(Therefore)  I  will  be  sorry  for  my  sin." 

46 


The  Divine  Arrows 

But  may  not  the  converse  be  equally 
true,  that  the  height  is  determined  by  the 
depth  ?  that  because  the  man  has  dug 
deep  and  laid  bare  the  inner  recesses  of 
moral  evil,  he  is  able,  in  turn,  to  soar  high 
and  rest  in  the  assurance  of  God's  readiness 
to  forgive  and  in  His  willingness  to  hear 
his  cry  ?  If  one  man  looks  in  faith  on 
the  One  whom  he  has  pierced  and  then 
mourns,  may  it  not  be  said  of  another  that 
he  repents  of  his  sins  and  believes  ?  Faith 
and  repentance  have  no  necessary  priority 
in  time.  They  are  rather  twin-graces  of 
the  soul's  experience,  born  together,  reared 
together,  brought  to  maturity  and  perfection 
side  by  side — the  one  as  it  develops  throw- 
ing light  upon  and  intensifying  the  other, 
until,  through  the  agency  of  both,  the  soul 
is  stablished  and  strengthened,  mellowed 
and  sweetened  in  the  grace  and  peace  of 
heaven.  And  thus  the  psalm  which  began 
with  the  thought  of  the  Divine  anger  has 
vindicated  its  Divine  origin  ;  and  the 
Psalmist  is  able  to  conclude  with  an  earnest 
appeal  to  Jehovah  who  was  the  God  of  his 

4   ** 

47 


The  Lenten  Psalms 

salvation  (ver.  22).  It  was  His  hand  that 
shot  the  arrows,  and  it  was  His  hand 
alone  that  could  heal  the  wounds  ;  or 
as  it  is  so  beautifully  expressed  by 
Newman — 

"  Look  not  to  me — no  grace  is  mine ; 
But  I  can  lift  the  mercy-sign, 

This  wouldst  thou  ?     Let  it  be! 
Kneel  down,  and  take  the  word  divine 
Absolvo  Te." 

Fides  supplex  is  not  yet  transformed  into 
fides  triumphant,  but    it    can    draw    near    in 
the    hope    that    maketh   not    ashamed,   and 
say — 

"  Make  haste  to  help  me, 
O  Lord,  my  salvation." 


PSALM   LL 


49 


AN  IDEAL  PRAYER. 

To  discuss  the  authorship  of  this  psalm 
may  well  seem  to  most  readers  a  needless 
waste  of  ingenuity.  For  while  it  may 
have  arisen  in  the  personal  experiences  of 
King  David,  as  the  traditional  title 
expressly  affirms,  the  most  ardent  advocate 
of  the  Davidic  authorship  is  not  precluded 
from  assuming  that  the  whole  psalm,  at 
least  in  its  present  form,  could  not  have 
originated  at  that  early  period.  A  later 
exilic  age  is  too  clearly  reflected  in  verses 
17,  1 8.  But  if  a  subsequent  generation 
added  to  the  poem  at  all,  why  should  the 
additional  matter  be  restricted  to  these 
two  verses  ?  May  not  the  Church  of  a 
later  era  have  worked  over  the  whole 
composition,  and  in  the  light  of  new 
aspirations  and  problems  have  made  it 

51 


The  Lenten  Psalms 

an  ideal  prayer  both  for  the  individual  and 
for  the  Church  ?  One  fact  is  plain,  that 
now  in  its  completed  form  both  the 
individual  and  the  Church  find  in  its  classic 
phrases  an  ideal  expression  of  their  own 
penitence  and  worship ;  and  if  these  two 
objects  are  served  by  the  very  finish  of  the 
composition,  it  is  no  meaningless  conjecture 
to  suppose  that  both  the  individual  and 
the  Church  have  had  a  real  share  in  its 
production.  There  is  no  note  in  the 
whole  gamut  of  its  devotion  which  a 
modern  congregation  might  not  use  in  the 
offering  of  public  worship ;  and  no  one 
who  knows  anything  of  the  spiritual 
longings  of  the  individual  heart  will  feel 
any  misgiving  in  utilising  every  tone  or 
chord  that  vibrates  in  this  timeless  threnody. 
Many  of  us,  indeed,  will  hasten  to  confess 
that  instead  of  misgiving,  we  have 
frequently  found  in  these  plaintive  but 
soul-subduing  strains  the  one  vehicle 
possible  for  our  own  penitence  and  devotion. 
In  all  ages  the  saints  of  God  have  come  to 
this  Hebrew  psalm,  and  found  in  it  a 

52 


An  Ideal  Prayer 

helpful,  if  not  a  peerless,  liturgy  :  and  as 
such  we  may  profitably  summarise  its 
teaching  under  the  following  threefold 
division  : — 

i.  A  PRAYER  FOR  FORGIVENESS. 

"  According  to  the  multitude  of  Thy  tender  mercies, 
blot  out  my  transgressions." 

In  its  rendering  for  "  transgressions,"  the 
Septuagint  emphasises  the  fact  that  before 
the  Psalmist  peers  into  the  depths  of  a 
vitiated  nature,  he  gazes  at  the  noxious  and 
fungoid  growths  which  had  appeared  above 
the  surface  and  manifested  themselves  in 
the  life.  He  commences  with  the  particular 
acts  of  sin,  with  which  he  had  at  once 
wronged  his  fellows  and  defied  his  God. 
Crimes  of  adultery  and  bloodguiltiness,  as 
in  the  life  of  the  Hebrew  monarch,  or  sins 
of  robbery  and  oppression,  Sabbath  profana- 
tion and  irreverence,  which  had  marked  the 
course  of  a  disobedient  people,  were  of  such 
a  nature  that  they  could  easily  be  differ- 
entiated, and  even  as  single  actions  were 
only  to  be  repudiated  and  condemned. 

53 


The  Lenten  Psalms 

Hence  in  these  opening  verses  all  the 
terms  are  employed  by  which  moral  evil 
had  already  been  stigmatised  in  Ps.  xxxii. 
It  was  rebellion,  perversity,  and  a  missing 
of  the  mark,  all  in  one.  It  defied  God, 
allowed  itself  to  drift  into  crooked  courses, 
and  like  a  caravan  lost  in  the  desert,  never 
reached  its  destined  goal. 

And  what  was  the  explanation  of  these 
infatuated  actions  ?  If  they  rose  like  hills 
dominating  the  landscape,  and  casting  a 
baleful  shadow  over  the  life,  what  was  the 
deep  under-bed  of  rock  out  of  which  they 
rose,  and  upon  which  they  were  so  firmly 
and  immovably  based  ?  The  Psalmist  found 
it  in  the  inner  depths  of  a  vitiated  nature. 

"  Behold  I  was  shapcn  in  iniquity 
And  in  sin  did  my  mother  conceive  me." 

The  deepest  fact  to  him  was  not  sins, 
but  sin.  He  had  been  born  into  a  corrupt 
race.  The  individual  acts  were  the  outcome 
of  a  polluted  source.  They  had  been 
moulded  by  the  law  of  heredity. 

It  need  scarcely  be  added  that  there  was 
no  thought  in  this  of  defaming  a  mother's 

54 


An  Ideal   Prayer 

honour,  or  of  shifting  the  blame  of  a  man's 
own  actions  to  the  law  or  will  of  the  Eternal. 
Human  souls  which  have  never  felt  the  weight 
of  conscious  guilt  may  play  with  these 
ignoble  suggestions,  but  no  one  who  has 
felt  the  sting  of  an  awakened  conscience 
will  introduce  the  thought  of  heredity  for 
any  such  purpose.  Like  the  Psalmist  he 
would  rather  learn  the  secret  of  his  own 
infatuation,  and  realise  as  he  gazes  into  these 
profound  depths  how  absolutely  helpless 
a  human  being  is  when  left  to  his  own 
efforts  and  resources.  Instead  of  rising 
into  the  light  of  the  Divine  favour,  he  can 

o  * 

only  sink  and  disappear  in  the  black  mael- 
strom of  iniquity. 

It  is  just  at  this  point,  however,  that  the 
hope  of  the  true  penitent  vindicates  its  Divine 
origin.  He  is  not  thus  left  alone  in  his 
helplessness.  He  can  fall  back  on  the 
promise  of  covenant  love,  and  say — 

"  Have   mercy   upon   me,  O    God,  according   to   Thy 

lovingkindness  : 

According  to  the  multitude  of  Thy  tender  mercies,  blot 
out  my  transgressions." 

ss 


The  Lenten  Psalms 

He  remembers  the  revealed  will  and  char- 
acter of  Jehovah.  He  recalls  the  assured 
fact  that  He  is  a  God  full  of  compassion 
and  gracious,  abundant  in  lovingkindness 
and  truth  :  and  realising  that  this  is  the 
fountain-head  of  all  blessing,  he  can  come 
in  the  assurance  of  faith,  and  pray,  that  the 
dreaded  record  of  his  sin  may  be  smeared 
out  of  God's  book,  or  the  loathed  leprosy 
itself  expunged  out  of  his  heart. 

"  Purge  me  with  hyssop,  and  I  shall  be  clean  : 
Wash  me  and  I  shall  be  whiter  than  snow." 

Let  Jehovah  Himself  take  the  bunch  of 
hyssop  and  perform  the  priestly  function. 
Let  Him  sprinkle  clean  water  upon  the 
spiritual  leper  and  pronounce  him  clean. 
Nay,  let  it  be  done  thoroughly — 

"Wash  me  throughly  from  mine  iniquity, 
And  cleanse  me  from  my  sin';    (ver.  2). 

In  other  words,  whatever  discipline  be 
required  to  remove  the  foul  stains,  let  the 
painful  process  be  resorted  to,  that  the  end 
in  view  may  be  graciously  attained,  and  the 
man  himself  stand  in  the  presence  of  Jehovah, 

56 


An  Ideal  Prayer 

a  restored  and  guileless  soul.  This  is  the 
first  part  of  the  Psalmist's  ideal  prayer. 
Let  Jehovah  touch  the  leper  and  say,  "  1 
will,  be  thou  clean."  In  this  large  and 
deeply  spiritual  sense,  let  Him  bestow  His 
forgiveness. 


2.  A  PRAYER  FOR  HOLINESS. 

The  second  stage  in  the  Psalmist's  thought 
is  set  forth  in  verses  10— 12.  He  prays 
for  a  human  spirit  which  is  at  once  renewedy 
sanctified,  and  free.  And  he  has  been  led  to 
this  wider  conception  because  in  his  pre- 
ceding prayer  for  forgiveness  he  had  already 
grasped  the  idea  of  a  vitiated  nature.  The 
whole  man  had  been  infected  with  the 
poison,  and  now  the  whole  man  must  share 
in  the  remedy.  In  mind  and  will  and 
conscience,  the  spiritual  leper  must  be 
cleansed.  Nay,  the  thought  of  cleansing  is 
no  longer  sufficient.  The  cleansing  of  the 
leper  may  have  been  a  suitable  enough  figure 
for  depicting  forgiveness :  but  when  the 
Psalmist  comes  to  this  deeper  conception  of 

57 


The  Lenten  Psalms 

inward  holiness,  he  instinctively  falls  back  on 
the  thought  of  a  Divine  creation  or  renewal — 

"  Create  in  me  a  clean  heart,  O  God ; 
And  renew  a  right  spirit  within  me." 

This  is  at  the  basis  of  all  true  holy  living  : 
the  vitiated  nature  must  be  replaced  by  a 
new  creation  (cf.  Ezek.  xxxvi.  26). 

And  the  new  creation  must  be  sanctified. 
The  pure  in  heart  may  abide  in  the  presence 
of  the  Holy  One  of  Israel,  but  no  one  else 
will  or  can.  The  first  fratricide  could  only 
quail  at  the  thought  that  he  was  to  be  driven 
forth  that  day  from  the  presence  of  Jehovah 
(Gen.  iv.  14)  ;  while  each  succeeding  genera- 
tion can  only  echo  the  admission — 

"  Evil  shall  not  sojourn  with   Thee : 
The  arrogant  shall  not  stand   in  Thy  sight." 

But  how  shall  any  one  become  pure,  except 
through  the  creative,  life-giving  power  of 
God  ?  And  how  shall  any  one  remain  pure, 
save  through  the  continued  operation  of  the 
same  Divine  influence  ?  The  presence  and 
power  of  Jehovah's  spirit  is  the  secret  of 

58 


An  Ideal   Prayer 

both.     Hence,  as  in    the   fuller  teaching  of 
Ezek.  xxxvi.  27,  the  Psalmist  prays — 

"Cast  me  not  away  from  Thy  presence 
And  take  not  Thy  holy  spirit  from  me." 

In  other  words,  let  my  own  spirit  be 
made  new  by  Divine  power.  Let  it  be 
fashioned  into  a  fit  temple  for  the  deity. 
Then  when  the  inner  shrine  is  thus  made 
meet  for  its  heavenly  guest,  let  Thy  Spirit 
take  up  its  abode  in  the  heart.  A  life  of 
holiness  will  at  last  be  assured  when  the 
Spirit  of  Jehovah  is  my  inspirer  and  guide. 

And  deepest  touch  of  all,  let  my  renewed 
spirit  be  free ;  for  this,  in  any  adequate 
interpretation  of  the  term,  is  of  the  very 
essence  of  holiness. 

"  Uphold  me  with  a  free  spirit." 

In  the  language  of  David  Elginbrod,  I 
would  no  longer  be  a  "  kind  of  noble  slave," 
but  a  free  and  happy  child.  I  would  obey 
the  innate  prompting  of  a  new  nature,  and 
not  simply  the  compulsion  of  an  external 
law.  For  when,  in  Henry  Scougal's  phrase, 

59 


The  Lenten  Psalms 

"the  life  of  God  is  in  the  soul  of  man," 
there  is  felt  the  uprising  of  a  new  instinct 
which  spontaneously  cares  for  the  things 
of  God,  as  the  heart  panteth  for  the  water- 
brooks.  The  supernatural  has  become 
natural.  Just  as  one  man  may  have  a 
genius  for  acquiring  knowledge,  and  another 
a  bent  or  aptitude  for  practical  affairs,  Henry 
Scougal  had  "a  genius  for  godliness,"  a 
natural  instinct  for  sacrificing  himself  for 
the  good  of  others.  Like  Timothy  (Phil, 
ii.  20)  he  naturally  cared  for  these  things. 
He  did  it  spontaneously  and  freely.  If  one 
had  peered  into  the  depths  of  his  inmost 
life,  he  would  have  found  there  an  instinct 
which  turned  to  Christ,  like  the  swallow 
returning  to  the  same  old  nest.  Or  to  use 
Dr.  Chalmers'  classic  phrase,  he  would  have 
found  "  the  expulsive  power  of  a  new 
affection."  And  this,  we  repeat,  is  of  the 
very  essence  of  the  Psalmist's  ideal  prayer. 
He  prays  for  the  spontaneity  and  freeness 
of  a  new  nature.  The  first  prayer  for 
forgiveness  was  not  sufficient.  It  had  to 
be  supplemented  by  the  Diviner  glow  and 

60 


An  Ideal  Prayer 

richer   life    of   holiness.     And  therefore   he 
prays — 

"  Restore  unto  me  the  joy  of  Thy  salvation  : 
And  uphold  me  with  a  free  spirit." 

In  this  broad  and  deeply  spiritual  sense, 
p-ive  me  a  new  life  which  is  renewed,  sancti- 

O  ' 

fied,  and  free.      Let  forgiveness  be  followed 
by  holiness. 

3.  A  PRAYER  FOR  SERVICE. 

"  Restore  unto  me  the  joy  of  Thy  salvation : 
........ 

Then  will  I  teach  transgressors  Thy  ways, 
And  sinners  shall  be  converted  unto  Thee." 

Building  on  his  own  experience,  the 
Psalmist  would  both  teach  and  sing.  He 
would  teach  others  the  "  ways '  or  method 
of  the  Divine  government,  according  to 
which,  anything  like  impenitence  is  visited 
by  condign  punishment,  but  penitence  or 
heartfelt  contrition  is  welcomed  and  crowned 
by  the  fulness  of  Divine  forgiveness.  And 
in  the  present  instance  he  is  assured  that 
his  teaching  would  not  be  in  vain.  Those 

61 


The  Lenten  Psalms 

who  had  sinned  would  be  so  encouraged 
by  the  Psalmist's  example,  that  they  would 
return  unto  Jehovah  and  find  in  the  wealth 
of  His  covenant  love  the  pledge  of  all 
human  blessedness.  For  Jehovah  Himself 
is  the  vindicator  of  the  covenant.  His 
readiness  to  forgive  is  no  mere  clemency 
on  the  part  of  one  who  is  too  indulgent  to 
punish  evil.  It  is  part  of  His  eternal 
righteousness  (ver.  14).  "If  we  confess 
our  sins,  he  is  merciful  and  righteous  to 
forgive  us  our  sins,  and  to  cleanse  us 
from  all  unrighteousness."  The  Psalmist's 
example  may  be  much,  but  Jehovah's 
faithfulness  to  the  covenant  is  more.  The 
exercise  of  grace,  goodness,  and  forgiveness 
is  but  one  part  of  His  Divine  rectitude. 
And  therefore  the  Psalmist  adds — 

"  Deliver  me  from  bloodguiltiness,  O  Lord, 
And  my  tongue  shall  sing  aloud  of  Thy  righteousness." 

Or  again,  in  his  heart  of  hearts,  the  true 
penitent  would  worship.  After  both  the 
teaching  and  the  singing  have  lapsed  into 
silence,  he  would  go  in  before  his  Maker, 

62 


An  Ideal  Prayer 

and  try  to  render  unto  Jehovah  the  homage 
that  was  His  due.  And  what  is  the  nature 
of  that  service  ?  Even  Kipling  in  his 
"  Recessional '  has  tried  to  reproduce  the 
answer — 

"The  tumult  and  the  shouting  dies — 
The  Captains  and  the  Kings  depart — 
Still  stands  Thine  ancient  Sacrifice, 
An  humble  and  a  contrite  heart. 
Lord  God  of  hosts,  be  with  us  yet, 
Lest  we  forget — lest  we  forget !  J 

The  answer  is  that  brightest  jewel  in  Old 
Testament  piety — the  unique,  spiritual  grace 
of  " humility."  When  instructing  his  fellow- 
men,  the  Psalmist  could  both  teach  and  sing. 
He  could  give  expression  to  the  full  assur- 
ance of  his  faith  in  a  song  of  implicit  trust. 
But  now,  when  the  song  is  hushed,  and  he 
has  turned  round  to  bow  before  the  Eternal, 
he  has  but  one  profound  conviction  lying 
upon  his  spirit — 

"  The  sacrifices  of  God  are  a  broken  spirit : 
A  broken  and  a  contrite  heart,  O   God,   Thou    wilt 
not  despise." 

What  are  animal  sacrifices  compared  with 

63 


The  Lenten  Psalms 

an  offering  like  that  ?  They  are  not  worthy 
of  being  mentioned  in  the  same  breath. 
Bereft  of  this  true  spirituality  which  gives 
meaning  and  value  to  the  whole,  they  are 
nothing  better  than  the  mere  externals  of 
worship  without  the  inner  vitality  or  soul. 
And  yet,  if  Jerusalem  were  only  restored 
and  purified,  as  the  spiritual  Church  of  God 
should  be,  there  might  be  a  legitimate  enough 
place  for  animal  sacrifices  after  all.  And, 
therefore,  in  that  sublime  liturgical  addition 
which  now  gives  finish  to  the  psalm,  the 
true  worshipper  prays — 

"  Do  good  in  Thy  good  pleasure  unto  Zion : 
Build  Thou  the  walls  of  Jerusalem. 
Then   shalt    Thou    delight  in  the  sacrifices  of  right- 
eousness .  .   . 
Then  shall  they  offer  bullocks  upon  Thine  altar." 

In  the  meanwhile,  the  Lord  demands 
obedience  and  not  sacrifice,  devotion  and 
not  ritual,  humility  and  true  contrition 
rather  than  the  formal  presentation  of  a 
merely  external  worship.  For  only  then 
shall  the  Psalmist's  ideal  prayer  be  gloriously 

64 


An  Ideal  Prayer 

realised  ;  and  penitence,  holiness,  and  service 
be  rapt  in  the  profound  mysticism  of  love. 

"  Thought  was  not :  in  enjoyment  it  expired  : 
No  thanks  he  breathed,   he  proffered  no  request  : 
Rapt  into  still  communion  that  transcends 
The  imperfect  offices  of  prayer  or  praise, 
His  mind  was  a  thanksgiving  to  the  power 
That  made  him  :   it  was  blessedness  and  love." 

This  is  prayer  in  its  ideality — the  rapture 
and  adoration  of  a  child. 


PSALM  CIL 


THE  DIVINE  MEMORIAL. 

No  finer  tribute  could  be  paid  to  a  good 
man's  devotion  than  the  reassuring  message 
addressed  to  Cornelius,  the  Roman  cen- 
turion, that  his  spiritual  attitude  in  prayer, 
and  its  practical  result  in  almsgiving,  had 
come  up  before  Jehovah  as  a  sweet-smell- 
ing savour,  and  been  accepted  at  the  Divine 
footstool  as  the  devout  soldier's  "  memorial ' 
(Acts  x.  4).  Nevertheless,  the  thought  of 
the  present  psalm  is  deeper.  The  Psalmist 
is  thinking,  not  so  much  of  the  outstanding 
characteristics  of  a  man,  as  of  the  revealed  will 
and  character  of  Jehovah,  Israel's  God.  He 
has  His  "  memorial,"  not  less  than  the  most 
devoted  of  His  worshippers  ;  and  both  in 
motive  and  actual  realisation,  that  memorial 
is  charged  with  the  deepest  interest  and 
instruction  for  all.  Hence  while  using  the 


The  Lenten  Psalms 

phraseology  of   Lam.    v.    19,  the    Psalmist 
introduces    a   change    which    is   a   sufficient 
indication  of  his  standpoint.     Instead  of  the 
term  "  throne,"  he  substitutes  "  memorial ' 
in  verse  12,  and  exclaims — 

"  But  Thou,  Jehovah,  sittest  enthroned  for  ever, 
And  Thy  memorial  unto  all   generations." 

The  verse,  as  thus  adapted,  may  be  carried 
as  a  lamp  throughout  the  entire  psalm,  until 
each  thought  and  phrase  is  illumined  by  the 
brilliance  of  its  light. 

I.  THE  DISCIPLINE  or  THE  INDIVIDUAL. 

This  is  the  prevailing  note  in  verses  i-n, 
though  some  of  the  expressions  may  be 
equally  well  referred  to  the  discipline  of 
the  exilic  Church  :  especially  the  appalling 
figure  in  verse  10 — 

"Thou  hast  taken  me  up,  and  cast  me  away" — 

i.e.  caught  me  up  as  in  a  whirlwind  and 
swept  me  away  into  this  far-off  land  of 
exile,  where  I  lie  broken  by  the  storm, 
a  byword  among  the  heathen  !  The 

70 


The  Divine  Memorial 

metaphor,  as  thus  explained,  may  be 
illustrated  by  Job  xxx.  22,  though  in  the 
latter  passage  the  description  of  utter  desola- 
tion is  carried  a  step  further — 

"  Thou  liftest  me  up  to  the  wind  .  .  . 
And  dissolvcst  me  in  the  roar  of  the  storm." 

No  figure,  indeed,  could  be  too  over- 
whelming to  portray  the  hapless  condition 
of  Israel  in  that  far-off  land.  She  had  verily 
been  whirled  away  in  the  hurricane  of  God's 
righteous  anger,  and  there,  by  the  waters  of 
Babylon,  she  had  become  the  derision  and 
execration  of  the  stranger.  So  we  read  in 
verse  8 — 

"  Mine  enemies  reproach  me  all   the  day  long, 
They  that  are  mad  against  me  do  curse  by  me." 

And  yet  in  these  introductory  verses 
there  is  a  deeper  truth  than  the  thought 
of  Israel  as  a  church.  There  is  the  in- 
dividualising of  the  national  woes.  There 
is  the  gathering  of  the  Church's  perplexities 
into  the  consciousness  of  the  individual 
heart.  For  even  in  exile  the  Church  was 

71 


The  Lenten  Psalms 

made  up  of  individual  Israelites  ;  and  it  is 
only  as  the  individual  member,  in  any  age, 
identifies  himself  with  the  Church,  and  is 
willing  to  espouse  her  cause  and  to  bear  her 
burdens,  that  the  set  time  for  remembering 
Zion  can  in  any  sense  be  accelerated  or  the 
promise  of  a  new  era  be  fulfilled.  Hence, 
in  the  plaintive  strains  of  these  opening 
verses,  it  is  the  personal,  rather  than  the 
national,  consciousness  that  is  struggling 
for  expression.  The  Psalmist,  as  an  in- 
dividual Israelite,  has  made  the  Church's 
perplexities  his  own. 

"  I  keep  vigil :  and  am  become 
Like  a  solitary  bird  upon  the  housetop." 

Indeed,  the  sense  of  his  solitude  and 
suffering  is  so  profound,  that  he  practically 
exhausts  his  store  of  imagery  in  trying  to 
depict  his  lonely  and  hapless  condition. 
Not  only  had  he  been  cast  into  a  fiery 
furnace  (ver.  3)  whose  scorching  flame  had 
licked  up  his  vital  energy,  reducing  him  to 
exhaustion  and  emaciation  (4,  5)  ;  but  he 
was  left  alone  like  solitude-loving  birds 

72 


The  Divine  Memorial 

which  inhabit  dark  and  desolate  ruins  (6,  7), 
where  his  only  sustenance  was  ashes  and 
tears  (ver.  9),  and  where  his  days  were 
running  their  swift  course  like  the  lengthening 
shadow  on  the  sundial,  while  he  himself 
could  only  be  compared  to  the  parched  and 
withered  grass  (ver.  n). 

It  was  a  dark  picture  :  and  yet  the 
deepest  touch  has  still  to  be  added.  It 
was  because  of  Jehovah's  indignation  and 
wrath  (ver.  10).  The  bitterest  drop  in  his 
cup  was  neither  the  sadness  nor  the  solitude  : 
it  was  the  fact  that  he  was  conscious  of 
being  under  the  righteous  displeasure  of 
the  Lord.  This  was  a  darkness  that  might 
be  felt.  Well  might  he  liken  himself  to 
the  night-owl,  uttering  weird  and  mournful 
cries  among  the  ruins,  or  to  the  solitary, 
nocturnal  bird  that  sits  upon  the  housetop 
awake,  while  every  one  in  the  house  below 
is  asleep  ;  for  he,  alas,  was  also  surrounded 
by  ruins — the  ruins  of*  his  shattered  hopes — 
and  as  far  as  he  could  pierce  the  darkness 
of  the  night,  there  was  only  the  blackness 
of  despair  settling  irrevocably  upon  his 

73 


The  Lenten  Psalms 

spirit.  The  lengthening  shadow  on  the 
dial  was  only  too  prophetic  of  the  end. 
His  sun  ere  long  would  dip  beneath  the 
horizon,  and  he  would  be  left  alone  with 
the  stars. 

Be  it  so.  Even  if  the  stars  could 
only  remind  him  of  Jehovah's  sleepless 
indignation,  he  might  nevertheless  find 
in  that  awe-inspiring  conception  the  sur- 
prising promise  of  a  better  dawn.  Jehovah's 
indignation  was  simply  another  form  of 
Jehovah's  faithfulness,  and  faithfulness  in 
turn  is  only  another  name  for  covenant 
love.  Only  let  the  distressed  soul  gaze 
long  enough  at  the  stars  that  were  thus 
guarding  his  sleepless  nights  ;  and  he  might 
yet  learn  the  lesson  which  Jeremiah  learned 
in  the  Parable  of  the  Almond  Branch 
(chap.  i.  1 1 -i  2)-- the  lesson  of  Jehovah's 
unceasing  watchfulness.  The  prophet 
might  only  gaze  for  a  moment  on  the 
beautiful  flowers  of  the  almond  tree  ;  but 
when  was  there  an  instant  in  the  history 
of  Israel  that  the  God  of  their  fathers  was 
not  watching  over  His  word  to  perform  it? 

74 


The  Divine  Memorial 

The  Divine  Watcher  of  Israel  neither 
slumbers  nor  sleeps.  And  even  if  the 
performance  of  that  word  meant,  and  could 
only  mean,  the  punishment  of  all  ungodli- 
ness, what  then  ? 

"Did  I  meet  no  trials  here, 

No  chastising  by  the  way, 
Might  I  not  with  reason  fear 
I  should  be  a  castaway  ? 

Others  may  escape  the  rod, 
Sunk  in  earthly  vain  delight; 

But  the  true-born  child  of  God, 
Must  not,   would  not,  if  he   might." 

In  fine,  the  very  depth  of  the  Psalmist's 
trial  was  a  part  of  the  Lord's  memorial.  It 
was  chastisement,  the  proof  of  His  love. 

2.  THE  RESTORATION  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

"  Thou  shalt  arise,  and  have  mercy  upon  Zion  : 
For  the   time  to   favour  her,   yea,    the    set    time  is 


come." 


This  also  was  a  part  of  the  Divine  mem- 
orial ;  and  it  was  well  for  the  Psalmist  that 
he  had  identified  himself  with  the  Church's 
perplexities,  for  in  so  doing  he  was  now 

75 


The   Lenten  Psalms 

to  discover  that  he  had  taken  the  one  step 
necessary  for  entering  into  the  fulness  of 
the  Church's  reward.  The  anguish  of 
despair  was  now  to  be  supplanted  by  the 
rapture  of  a  Divine  expectancy.  In  other 
words,  the  cause  of  a  stricken  Zion  is  never 
espoused  in  vain.  She  always  gives  more 
than  she  gets. 

With  the  thought  of  chastisement,  for 
instance,  the  sufferer  has  been  led  to  raise 
his  eyes  to  heaven,  and  immediately  every- 
thing is  altered.  The  wail  of  penitence  is 
changed  into  a  song  of  rapturous  praise.  For 
enthroned  on  the  skyline  of  the  everlasting 
hills,  he  beholds  a  vision,  peerless  and  soul- 
subduing  in  its  sublimity,  concerning  which 
he  might  have  said,  in  the  language  of  E.  B. 
Browning — 

"  There  sittest  Thou,  the  satisfying  One, 
With  blood  for  sins,  and  holy  perfectings 
For  all  requirements — while  the  archangel,  raising 
Toward  Thy  face  his  full  ecstatic  gazing, 
Forgets  the  rush  and  rapture  of  his  wings  !  ' 

He  beholds  Jehovah,  the  Ruler  of  heaven 
and  earth  and  the  Disposer  of  human  destiny, 


The  Divine  Memorial 

and  realises  in  the  light  of  that  Divine  un- 
veiling, not  simply  that  all  is  well  with  the 
world,  but  in  a  special  sense  that  all  must 
be  well  with  the  Church.  For  with  a  flash 
of  spiritual  insight  he  is  able  to  read  the 
two  things  together — Jehovah's  sovereignty 
over  all,  and  that  which  was  the  basal  fact 
in  Israel's  history,  the  covenant  relationship 
inaugurated  at  Sinai  and  solemnly  ratified 
by  blood.  This  is  the  reason  why  the 
thought  of  a  "  throne '  instinctively  passed 
over  into  the  conception  of  a  "memorial," 
and  that  the  language  of  verse  1 2  was  deliber- 
ately coined  to  express  the  illuminating 
change.  The  Psalmist  was  listening  to  the 
never-to-be-forgotten  teaching  of  Ex.  iii.  15, 
"  This  is  my  name  for  ever,  and  this  is  my 
memorial  unto  all  generations  .  .  .  Jehovah, 
the  God  of  your  fathers,  hath  sent  me  unto 
you." 

Everything  was  possible  in  the  light  of 
that  Divine  truth.  It  was  even  possible  that 
God's  set  time  to  remember  Zion  had  at  last 
arrived.  God's  faithfulness  to  the  covenant 
was  an  essential  element  in  that  hope.  He 

77 


The  Lenten  Psalms 

was  not  unmindful  of  His  covenant  promise; 
and,  therefore,  the  Hebrew  captives  could 
say — 

"  Thou  shalt  arise,  and  have  mercy  upon  Zion : 
.  .  .  Yea,  the  set  time  is  come." 

The  main  proof  that  Jehovah  was  about 
to  comfort  Jerusalem  was  lying  nearer  the 
hearts  of  the  weeping  captives  than  they 
deemed.  The  Psalmist  found  it  in  the 
yearning  love  of  the  captives  themselves. 
Even  by  the  waters  of  Babylon  they  were 
thinking  of  Zion.  They  had  affection  for 
her  ruins,  and  were  moved  with  pity  for  her 
dust.  And  it  cannot  be  emphasised  too 
strongly  that  when  good  men  thus  begin  to 
lay  to  heart  the  weight  of  the  Church's 
calamity,  this  is  the  unfailing  spiritual  token 
that  Jehovah  himself  has  already  begun  to 
work.  The  stirring  of  love  and  pity  in  the 
hearts  of  the  exiles  is  a  real  presage  of  the 
dawn,"  like  the  keen  morning  air  stirring  the 
sleeping  flowers  before  sunrise."  Yes,  even 
in  exile,  the  captives  were  feeling  the  thrill 
of  the  homing  instinct ;  and,  therefore,  they 

78 


The  Divine  Memorial 

could  say,  like  Dr.  Matheson  in  reference  to 
his  own  blindness,  that  while  he  was  "over- 
taken by  the  night,  he  was  yet  confident  of 
the  morning" 

"  The  wind  grew  cold,  a  change  was  in  the  sky, 
And  in  deep  silence  did  the  dawn  draw  nigh." 

And  the  new  era,  as  thus  anticipated,  was 
full  of  promise  for  the  Hebrew  captives.  By 
the  use  of  perfect  tenses  they  transport 
themselves  into  the  future,  and  paint  the 
story  of  their  restoration  as  a  fully  realised 
fact. 

"The  Lord  hath  built  up  Zion, 
He  hath  appeared  in  His  glory, 
He  hath  regarded  the  prayer  of  the  destitute, 
And  hath  not  despised  their  prayer. ' 

If  the  Israelites  in  Babylon  were  like  con- 
demned captives,  languishing  in  prison,  and 
doomed  to  perish  in  that  exile  land,  unless 
Jehovah  should  speedily  interpose  in  their 
favour  ;  they  nevertheless  beheld  with  the  eye 
of  faith  that  the  interposition  had  been  effected, 
that  Jehovah  had  intervened  in  their  behalf, 
and  that  now  from  the  vantage-ground  of  their 

79 


The   Lenten  Psalms 

own  restoration  the  eagle-like  wings  of  their 
faith  must  be  ready  for  a  wider  and  vaster 
flight.  The  ingathering  of  Israel  was  but 
the  prelude  to  the  ingathering  of  the  nations. 
All  nations  were  to  come  and  bless  them- 
selves in  Abraham's  seed.  This,  indeed, 
was  the  ultimate  design  of  what  they  had 
learned  to  call  the  Lord's  memorial ;  and, 
therefore,  as  the  final  stage  in  the  working  out 
of  this  fundamental  conception,  we  have — 

3.  THE  PERFECTING  OF  THE  WORLD. 

"  Si  monumentum  requiris,  circumspice  " — 
who  has  not  read  the  well-known  epitaph  over 
the  inner  north  doorway  of  St.  Paul's  ?  No 
other  monument  is  needed.  No  other  relic 
would  suffice.  The  completed  structure,  in 
all  its  massive  splendour,  is  the  only  worthy 
memorial  of  Sir  Christopher  Wren.  And 
the  teaching  of  the  present  psalm  is  some- 
what similar.  It  would  say,  with  our  own 
Tennyson  : — 

"One  God,  one  law,  one  element, 
And  one  far-off  Divine  event, 
To  which  the  whole  creation  moves." 

80 


The  Divine   Memorial 

And  when  that  august  goal  has  been 
reached,  and  all  "the  peoples  are  gathered 
together  to  serve  the  Lord"  (ver.  22),  well 
may  a  celestial  voice  be  heard,  saying,  "If 
you  wish  to  see  His  memorial,  look  around." 
For  when  at  the  close  of  the  world's  great 
drama,  the  morning  stars  sing  together,  as 
at  the  beginning,  and  all  the  sons  of  God 
shout  for  joy,  a  glorified  humanity  will  lift 
up  its  eyes  on  the  finished  structure,  and 
confess  that  in  all  its  massive  grandeur  no 
other  monument  is  required,  that  this  is 
His  memorial  to  all  generations — Jehovah, 
the  God  of  Israel,  hath  done  all  things  well. 

'  O 

But  how  is  that  august  goal  to  be  reached  ? 
Is  it  by  frail  human  effort,  by  the  laws 
and  processes  of  external  nature,  or  by  the 
intervention  and  might  of  Jehovah  ?  The 
concluding  verses  of  this  psalm  give  no 
uncertain  answer.  It  is  not  by  the  exercise 
of  frail  human  effort.  Thrust  back  once 
more  into  the  misery  of  his  present,  the 
Psalmist  can  only  complain,  as  in  verse  23 — 

"  My  strength  hath  He  weakened  in  the  way ; 
And  my  days  hath  He  shortened." 

F  Si 


The  Lenten  Psalms 

Frail  man  !  What  is  his  life  but  the 
lengthening  shadow  on  the  sundial  ?  Or 
the  heavens  and  the  earth  !  What  measure 
of  abiding  trust  can  Israel  repose  upon  them  ? 
Alas,  they,  too,  shall  perish  and  come  to  an 
end,  as  if  smitten  by  the  same  fatal  blight 
of  mortality. 

"  Yea,  all  of  them  shall  wax  old  like  a  garment ; 
As  a  vesture  shalt  Thou  change  them,  and  they  shall 


be  changed." 


But  in  contrast  with  both,  read  verse  27. 
Turning  away  from  man  and  nature  alike, 
the  Psalmist  catches  hold  of  God's  skirts 
and  prays — 

"  But  Thou   art    He ;    and    Thy    years    shall  have  no 
end." 

He  falls  back  on  the  personality  and  im- 
mortality of  Israel's  God,  and  feels  that  in 
these  he  has  the  promise  and  pledge  of  his 
own.  From  of  old,  O  Jehovah,  Thou  didst 
say  as  Thine  age-long  memorial,  "  I  will  be 
that  I  will  be":  and  that  is  the  undecaying 
hope  of  Thy  people  still.  They  can  take 
refuge  in  the  ever-widening  sweep  of  Thy 

82 


The   Divine  Memorial 

Divine  purposes,  and  sum  up  all  their  con 
fidence,   as  they  now    conclude    this   psalm ; 
saying — 

"The  children  of  Thy  servants  shall  continue, 
And  their  seed  shall  be  established  before  Thee." 

This  is  sinking  the  individual  not  simply 
in  the  fortunes  of  the  Church,  but  in  the 
greatness  and  glory  of  the  Church's  Head  : 
and  as  Jesus  taught  his  disciples  long  after, 
this  is  the  one  approved  method  for  finding 
and  enjoying  all.  For  when  the  individual, 
the  Church,  and  the  nations  lift  up  their  eyes 
amid  the  glories  of  the  completed  structure 
it  will  be  to  confess  that  the  sovereignty 
and  faithfulness  of  Israel's  God  have  been, 
at  last,  supremely  vindicated  ;  and  that  now 
in  the  rapture  of  an  abiding  trust,  each  child 
of  the  kingdom  may  say — 

"  But  Thou,  Jehovah,  sittest  enthroned  for  ever  ; 
And  Thy  memorial  unto  all  generations." 


PSALM    CXXX. 


<DE  TROFUND1S. 

THIS  great  ode  has  won  the  admiration  and 
moved  the  hearts  of  devout  men  in  all  ages. 
In  his  dying  moments,  as  cited  by  Prothero, 
the  thoughts  of  Richard  Hooker,  the  pride 
of  English  theologians,  dwelt  on  this  psalm  ; 
while  Luther,  in  his  efforts  to  give  the 
German  nation  a  Bible  and  Hymn-Book, 
founded  upon  it  his  well-known  hymn — 

"Aus  defer  Noth  schrei  ich  zu  dir." 

And  who  can  forget  the  sublime  symbolism 
of  Sir  Noel  Paton's  wonderful  creation,  "  De 
Profundis " — the  female  figure,  the  soul, 
struggling  out  of  the  mists  of  the  valley, 
with  her  beautiful  gauze  robe  and  butterfly 
wings  all  frayed  and  stained  by  the  mire  ; 
and  the  peerless  form  of  the  Saviour  coming 

8? 


The  Lenten  Psalms 

round  the  crest  of  the  hill,  laying  aside  His 
crook,  and  with  tender  gaze,  yet  tense 
hands,  snatching  the  well-nigh  exhausted 
Psyche  from  the  abyss.  What  an  incom- 
parable blending  of  the  human  and  Divine — 
human  faith  and  Divine  faithfulness  meeting 
and  co-operating  in  one  supreme  act  of 
covenant  love  !  And  yet  how  limp  the  arms 
of  the  human  figure  are,  when  compared 
with  the  strong,  tense  grasp  of  the  Good 
Shepherd  !  It  is  not  so  much  faith  that 
saves  :  it  is  the  Saviour  ;  and,  therefore,  the 
teaching  of  the  whole  canvas  can  only  re-echo 
the  closing  strain  of  the  Psalmist — 

"O  Israel,  hope  in  the  Lord; 
For  with  the  Lord  there  is  mercy. 
And  He  shall  redeem  Israel 
From  all  his  iniquities." 

But  what  are  the  depths  out  of  which  the 
Hebrew  singer  directs  his  supplications  ? 
The  present  psalm  gives  no  uncertain 
answer.  It  suggests,  at  least,  a  threefold 
division. 


De  Profundis 

I.  THE  GREAT  DEEP  OF  SIN,  AND  ITS 
ONE  PROFOUND  NEED — FORGIVENESS. 

This  is  the  burden  of  verses  3,  4,  as  read 
more  particularly  in  the  light  of  the  in- 
structive Hebrew  names. 

"  If  Thou,   Jah,  shouldest  mark  iniquities, 

O  Adonai,   who  shall  stand  ? 
But  there  is  forgiveness  with  Thee, 
That  Thou  mayst  be  feared." 

It  recalls  the  teaching  of  Hosea,  the  prophet 
of  love.  Jehovah  was  to  him  not  only  a 
King  or  Ruler  who  demanded  civil  justice  as 
between  man  and  man,  or  ethical  righteous- 
ness as  a  reflection  of  the  Divine  ;  He  was 
also  a  Divine  Husband  and  Father  who  had 
taken  Israel  into  covenant  relationship  with 
Himself,  and  who  still  yearned  over  the 
unfaithful  wife  or  over  the  disobedient  son, 
after  she  or  he  had  been  guilty  of  spiritual 
apostasy.  Both  as  Jehovah's  spouse  and 
Jehovah's  son,  Israel  was  pledged  to  a  life 
of  fidelity  and  service  ;  and,  therefore,  the 
peculiar  character  of  Israel's  backsliding  was 


The  Lenten  Psalms 

to  be  read  and  judged  in  the  light  of  that 
fact.  It  was  at  least  two  things  in  one.  It 
was  a  sin  against  covenant  love,  and  a  grave 
dereliction  of  duty.  She  had  committed 
two  great  evils — slighted  the  love  which  a 
father's  God  had  cherished  towards  her, 
as  "  Jah "  ;  and  in  so  doing  had  failed  to 
render  the  filial  service  and  obedience  which 
she  owed  to  Him  as  "Adonai."  And  in 
all  this  there  was  the  proof  not  only  of 
unrighteous  conduct  or  the  breach  of  uni- 

o 

versal  law,  but  of  a  heart  not  true  to 
Jehovah,  out  of  sympathy  with  His  character 
and  ungrateful  to  His  love. 

This  is  the  true  nature  of  sin  as  depicted 
in  the  present  psalm.  The  individual,  no 
less  than  the  nation,  had  departed  from 
Jehovah.  He  had  sinned  against  Him  as 
the  God  of  love,  and  was  now  trembling  at 
the  prospect  of  having  to  meet  Him  as  the 
God  of  power.  But  who  can  stand  before 
Him  as  Adonai,  if  He,  as  the  God  of  the 
covenant,  be  strict  to  mark  iniquity  ?  No 
one.  Before  the  searching  glance  of  Him 
who  is  both  loving-kindness  and  power,  the 

90 


De  Profundis 

conscience-smitten    Israelite    can    only    sink 
into  the  abyss. 

What,  on  the  other  hand,  if  the  God  of 
Israel  should  not  be  extreme  to  sift  ?  The 
mere  possibility  that  there  might  be  another 
alternative  is  full  of  promise  for  every 
sincere  penitent.  In  the  plenitude  of  His 
mercy  He  might  allow  the  inner  gracious- 
ness  of  His  motive  to  determine  the 
character  of  His  discipline,  and  say,  "  How 
shall  I  give  thee  up,  Ephraim  ?  How  shall  I 
deliver  thee,  Israel  ?  How  shall  I  make  thee 
as  Admah  ?  How  shall  I  set  thee  as  Zeboim  ? 
Mine  heart  is  turned  within  Me :  My  com- 
passions are  kindled  together."  Hence  the 
punishment,  though  richly  deserved,  would 
not  be  the  "  ban  "  of  an  utter  extermination  : 
it  would  be  chastisement — the  proof  of  His 
love.  This  is  the  profound  conception  that 
calms  and  reassures  the  Psalmist  now.  He 
might  quail  at  the  prospect  of  facing  the 
sovereign  might  of  Adonai,  but  what  if  the 
covenant  love  of  Jah  should  act  as  his  Divine 
goel?  Might  he  not  appeal  from  the  one  to 
the  other — from  the  power  to  the  love — and 

91 


The  Lenten  Psalms 

say,  with  the  author  of  the  "  Royal  Crown," 
that  he  would  fly  from  God  to  God  ? 

"From  Thee  to  Thee  I  fly  to  win 
A  place  of  refuge,  and  within 
Thy  shadow  from  Thy  anger  hide 
Until  Thy  wrath  be  turned  aside. 

Unto  Thy  mercy  I  will  cling 
Until  Thou  hearken  pitying  ; 
Nor  will   I   quit  my  hold  of  Thee 
Until  Thy  blessing  light  on  me."  1 

This  is  the  Psalmist's  perfect  plea  when 
realising  the  depth  of  his  own  iniquity. 
He  can  lift  his  eyes,  like  Psyche,  to  the 
Great  Shepherd  of  Israel  and  say — 

"  But  there  is  forgiveness  with  Thee, 
That  Thou  mayst  be  feared." 

The  sin  of  man  may  be  deep,  but  the 
forgiveness  of  God  is  deeper.  The  con- 
sciousness of  guilt  may  be  wiped  out  by 
the  exercise  of  covenant  love. 

1  Solomon    Ibn    Gebirol,    born    in    Malaga,     IO2I.       See 
Abraham's  Short  History  of  Jewish  Literature^  p.  64. 


De  Profundis 

2.  THE  CLOSELY  ALLIED  DEEP  OF 
SUFFERING  AND  ITS  ONE  PROFOUND 
NEED  OF  PATIENCE. 

This  is  the  supplementary  thought  con- 
tained in  verses  5,  6.  When  the  prophet 
Nathan  exclaimed  in  the  Parable  of  the  One 
Ewe  Lamb,  "  Thou  art  the  man  '  (2  Sam. 
xii.  7),  the  royal  backslider  at  once  confessed 
his  sin,  and  was  as  promptly  assured  of  the 
Divine  forgiveness.  He  might  have  said, 
in  the  language  of  Ps.  xxxii.  5 — 

"  I    said,    I   will     confess    my    transgressions    unto    the 

Lord : 
And  Thou — Thou  forgavest  the  iniquity  of  my  sin." 

But  what  of  the  other  great  deep  of  suffer- 
ing which  had  come  as  sin's  necessary  and 
bitter  fruit  ?  What  of  the  personal  and 
family  sorrows  which  had  fallen  so  calami- 
tously upon  his  life?  Were  these  also 
wiped  out  by  the  alchemy  of  faith,  or  by 
the  free,  spontaneous  outflow  of  Divine 
forgiveness  ?  Alas,  for  the  answer.  "  Be- 
cause by  this  deed  thou  hast  given 
great  occasion  to  the  enemies  of  the  Lord 

93 


The  Lenten  Psalms 

to  blaspheme,  the  child  also  that  is  born 
unto  thee  shall  surely  die."  The  sin  might 
be  forgiven,  but  the  sorrow  and  the  suffer- 
ing remained. 

Now,  in  these  circumstances,  what  is  the 
one  supreme  need  of  the  suppliant  ?  Not 
simply  the  faith  that  justifies,  but  the  Spirit- 
taught  patience  that  endures.  He  must 
learn  to  say,  as  in  verses  5,  6 — 

"  I  wait  for  God,  my  soul  doth  wait, 

My  hope  is  in  His  word, 
More  than  they  that  for  morning  watch, 
My  soul  waits  for  the  Lord." 

"  Ye  have  heard  of  the  patience  of  Job," 
adds  the  Apostle,  "and  have  seen  the  end 
of  the  Lord,  how  that  the  Lord  is  full  of 
pity  and  merciful."  What,  in  view  of 
both  of  these  passages,  is  the  true  nature 
of  Christian  patience  ?  Is  it  the  mere 
submission  of  a  soul  which  has  no  power 
to  resist — the  cold,  dull  stupor  of  a  man 
who  is  compelled  to  bow  to  the  inevit- 
able ?  Is  it  not  rather  the  spiritual  attitude 
of  one  who  is  thrilled  by  a  deathless 
hope — the  calm  resignation  of  a  hu.nan 

94 


De  Profundis 

spirit,   which,    having    seen    the  end  of  the 
Lord,   is    now    confident    of   the    morning  ? 


"  Mark  the  perfect  man,   and  behold  the  upright  : 
For  there  is  a  future  for  the  man  of  peace." 

Ps.  xxxvii.  37  (margin). 

Patient  waiting  upon   God  has    a  future. 

It  is  an  attitude    of   soul    which    is    closely 

akin  to    hope.     It    is  deeply  rooted    in  the 

soil  of  childlike  communion    with  Jehovah, 

and    will    yet    wave    its    branches    and    bear 

its  fruit    in  the  sunshine  of  covenant  love. 

The    secret    of  the    Lord    is    its    strength. 

Having  turned    its    face  towards    Adonai  — 

for  without  any  descriptive  verb  he  exclaims, 

"my  soul  is  to  the  Lord"  —  he  is  confident 

that  not  more  surely  shall  they  who  watch 

for   the    dawn    be     rewarded    by    the    glory 

of  the    sunrise,  than  will  Adonai,  the  God 

of  power,  appear    in  His    glory,  and  cause 

the  night  of  His  servant's  sorrow  to  cease. 

This    sets    the    reality    of    the    Psalmist's 

assurance    of   forgiveness    in    the    strongest 

possible    light.     Once    he    quailed    at    the 

prospect   of  appearing    before   Adonai,    but 

95 


The  Lenten  Psalms 

now  the  advent  of  His  Divine  might  is 
his  one  inspiration  and  hope.  The  same 
Power  which  might  have  crushed  him  in 
his  state  of  unforgiven  sin  is  now  to  appear 
in  his  favour  and  vindicate  his  confidence. 
He  can  therefore  trust  and  not  be  afraid, 
even  in  the  dark  night  of  sorrow  ;  he  can 
stay  his  chastened  spirit  upon  his  God. 

And  is  this  not  the  pressing  need  of  the 
present  generation  ?  In  an  age  when  all 
the  ephemeral  playthings  of  the  hour  are 
duly  recorded  in  the  morning  papers,  and 
the  moral  energies  of  the  race  are  in  grave 
danger  of  being  wasted  on  a  multiplicity  of 
trifles  ;  and  when  even  the  Church  is  being 
tempted  to  accept  the  alluring  teaching  that 
all  human  suffering  is  an  anachronism — 
that  the  natural  human  flight  from  pain  is 
really  a  spiritual  quality  which  ought  to  be 
raised  to  the  dignity  of  a  moral  obligation  ; 
is  there  not  an  ever-growing  necessity  for 
the  trumpet-call  of  this  time-honoured 
psalm,  emphasising,  as  it  does,  the  need 
of  a  renewed  deepening  of  thought  at  the 
centre,  a  firmer  grasp  of  the  value  of  Divine 


De  Profundis 

discipline,  and  a  calm,  resigned  waiting  upon 
the  Lord  ?  The  grace  of  God  is  sufficient 
for  all  the  children  of  sorrow,  even  though 
the  iron  which  has  entered  into  the  quick 
is  not  at  once  removed.  By  prayer  and 
supplication  with  thanksgiving  the  afflicted 
suppliant  is  to  make  known  all  his  requests 
unto  God,  and  even  if  the  prayer  is  not 
answered,  at  least  in  the  way  so  fondly 
anticipated,  the  peace  of  God  which  passeth 
all  understanding  shall  guard  his  heart  and 
his  thoughts  in  Christ  Jesus.  This  is  the 
second  way  in  which  the  God  of  all  grace 
comes  to  the  help  of  His  suffering  people. 
In  the  great  deep  of  their  sorrow  and  suffer- 
ing He  teaches  them  the  patience  that 
endures. 

3.  THE  GREAT  DEEP  OF  HUMILITY  AND  ITS 
ONE  PROFOUND  NEED  OF  ASSURANCE. 

"  There  is  forgiveness  with  Thee,  that 
Thou  mayst  be  feared"  ;  nay,  there  is  dis- 
cipline with  Thee,  that  Thou  mayst  be  rever- 
enced and  adored.  The  two  combined  give 
us  the  brightest  jewel  in  Old  Testament 
o  97 


The  Lenten  Psalms 

piety.  The  fear  and  the  adoration  together 
give  us  humility.  "To  this  man  will  I 
look,  saith  the  Lord,  even  to  him  that 
is  poor  and  of  a  contrite  spirit,  and  that 
trembleth  at  My  word." 

But  what,  in  essence,  is  this  peculiarly 
Christian  grace  ?  "  It  is  no  mere  modesty 
or  absence  of  pretension — a  meaning  which 
even  heathen  writers  might  have  read  into 
it ! — no,  nor  even  a  self-made  grace  in  any 
sense  ;  it  is  an  esteeming  of  ourselves  small, 
inasmuch  as  we  are  so  "  (Trench).  Inasmuch 
as  we  are  so  !  That  may  not  be  the  impres- 
sion made  upon  us  by  the  imperfect  examples 
of  our  fellows,  but  it  is  the  conviction 
produced  by  the  felt  presence  of  Jehovah's 
power.  Like  Charles  Lamb,  we  might 
possibly  be  able  to  stand  erect  before  the 
greatest  of  our  human  masters,  but  if  He 
should  come  in,  we  would  all  kneel.  This, 
we  repeat,  is  the  brightest  gem  in  Old 
Testament  piety.  God  resisteth  the  proud, 
but  giveth  grace  to  the  humble. 

Now,  here,  again,  what  is  the  humble  man's 
supreme  need,  especially  when  he  comes  to 


De  Profimdis 


deal  with  friend  or  fellow  ?  Not  to  allow 
his  humble-mindedness  to  paralyse  his  con- 
fidence so  that  he  becomes  dumb  with 
timidity  before  the  Church  or  the  world  ; 
but  to  allow  the  fear  of  God  to  so  possess 
his  mind  and  spirit,  that,  having  eliminated 
every  other  fear,  he  can  say — 

'*  O  Israel,  hope  in  the  Lord  ; 
For  with  the  Lord  there  is  mercy, 
And  with  Him  is  plenteous  redemption." 

The  humble  man's  need   is  an  assurance 
of  salvation  so  deep  and  strong  that  he  wil 
be    constrained    to    become    an    evangelist 
And  it  is  not  without  interest  in  this  con 
nection  to  recall  that  it  was  the  singing  of 
this    psalm    as    an    anthem,    at    St.     Paul's 
Cathedral,  on  24th  May  1738,  which  stirred 
the  heart  of  John    Wesley  to    receive    that 
quickening  sense  of   God's   redeeming  love 
which    made    him     one    of     the    foremost 
ministers  and  evangelists  of  his  time.     The 
Psalmist's  theme,  indeed,  might  well  make 
the    most    timid    man    eloquent.     Like    the 
Divine    Spirit,    whose    word    it    is,    it    is    a 
message  whose   illuminating  power  searches 

99 


The  Lenten   Psalms 

all  things,  yea,  the  deep  things  of  God. 
It  searches  and  illumines  the  deep  things  of 
His  love  ;  for  "  with  the  Lord  there  is  mercy  ' 
— not  only  inherent  in  His  nature,  but  with 
Him,  as  His  "  darling  attribute  "  (Matthew 
Henry),  the  very  essence  and  seal  of  His  cove- 
nant. And  the  deep  things  of  His  truth,  for 
the  Psalmist  had  already  said,  "  in  His  word 
do  I  hope  " — that  word  of  promise  and  age- 
long wisdom  which,  like  Jehovah  Himself,  is 
eternal.  And  chief  of  all,  the  deep  things 
of  His  redemption  :  "plenteous  redemption  ' 
is  the  arresting  phrase,  containing  enough 
for  all,  enough  for  each,  enough  for  me. 
"Who  is  a  God  like  unto  Thee,  that 
pardoneth  iniquity,  and  passeth  by  the  trans- 
gression of  the  remnant  of  His  heritage  ?  He 
retaineth  not  His  anger  for  ever,  because  He 
delighteth  in  mercy." 

These  are  the  deep  things  of  God — His 
character,  His  truth,  His  salvation  ;  and  yet 
the  proper  theme  of  the  psalm  has  been 
the  deep  things  of  a  man- -his  sin,  his 
suffering,  his  humility.  Out  of  the  depths 
of  the  one  he  has  cried  in  an  agony  of 

100 


De  Profundis 

appeal  to  the  fulness  and  might  of  the  other, 
"  Lead  me  to  the  Rock  that  is  higher  than 
I "  ;  and  like  "  deep  calling  unto  deep," 
the  love  of  Jah  has  responded  to  the 
impassioned  appeal,  and  with  all  the  might 
of  Adonai  has  snatched  the  well-nigh  ex- 
hausted Psyche  from  the  abyss.  And  what 
He  has  done  for  one,  He  will  do  for  all. 

"  He  shall  redeem   Israel 
From  all  his  iniquities." 

In  each  generation,  then,  let  every  rescued 
soul  sing — 

"  Plenteous  redemption 
Is  ever  found  with  Him, 
And  from  all  his  iniquities 
He  Israel  shall  redeem." 


101 


PSALM    CXLIIL 


103 


A  PENITENT'S  ANTHOLOGY. 

THE  present  psalm  may  be  rightly  de- 
scribed as  an  afflicted  man's  anthology.  It 
is  a  compilation  of  imagery  and  spiritual 
teaching  derived  from  the  time-honoured 
records  of  the  past.  No  one  can  read  Ps. 
vii.  5  or  Lam.  iii.  6  without  recognising  the 
sources  of  verse  3 — 

"  The  enemy  hath  persecuted  my  soul ; 
He  hath  smitten  it  down  to  the  ground  : 
He  hath  made  me  to  dwell  in  dark  places,  as  those 
that  have  been  long  dead." 

Or,  in  contrast  with  his  present  dejection, 
was  the  Psalmist  desirous  of  recalling  the 
brighter  memories  of  his  past  ?  He  had 
only  to  turn  to  Ps.  Ixxvii.  5,  6,  n,  12  and 
read,  as  in  verse  5 — 

"  I  remember  the  days  of  old : 
I  meditate  on  all  Thy  doings : 
I  muse  on  the  work  of  Thy  hands." 

105 


The  Lenten  Psalms 

Or,  finally,  does  he  cast  an  anxious  glance 
into  the  future,  and  fondly  cherish  the  hope 
that  in  the  coming  years  Jehovah  would 
guide  his  steps  in  the  path  of  righteousness  ? 
He  culls  passages  like  Ps.  xxvii.  1 1,  Isa.  xxvi. 
7,  Neh.  ix.  20,  and  exclaims,  as  in  verse  10 — 

"  Teach  me  to  do  Thy  will ;  for  Thou  art  my  God  : 
Thy  Spirit  is  good  :  lead  me  in  the  land  of  uprightness." 

This  reverence  for  the  past,  however, 
is  but  one  aspect  of  the  afflicted  man's 
devotion.  It  is  always  illuminated  and 
enhanced  by  a  homage  which  is  Divine. 
If  the  book  of  Israel's  history  and  psalmody 
is  lying  open  upon  his  knee,  he  is  reading 
it  in  the  presence  of  Jehovah,  and  allowing 
the  light  of  the  eternal  world  to  fall  upon 
its  pages.  In  a  word,  he  is  breathing  the 
atmosphere  of  prayer,  and  supplicating  the 
help  of  the  God  of  Israel  to  assist  him  in 
his  study  of  Divine  truth.  Hence,  the 
moment  he  lifts  the  pen  to  begin  his 
anthology,  it  is  to  write — 

"Hear  my  prayer,  O  Lord:  give  ear  to  my  supplications: 
In  Thy  faithfulness  answer  me,  and  in  Thy  righteous- 


ness." 


1 06 


A  Penitent's  Anthology 

The  entire  psalm  falls  into  two  equal 
sections  by  the  insertion  of  the  musical  term 
"Selah"  at  the  close  of  verse  6.  In  the 
former  part  we  have  a  pathetic  description 
of  the  afflicted  man's  present,  while  in  the 
latter  he  furnishes  an  equally  instructive 
picture  of  the  greatness  of  his  future  hope  : 
and  as  these  are  the  two  broad  divisions  in 
the  logical  evolution  of  the  thought,  we  may 
profitably  assign  a  few  brief  paragraphs  to 
each. 


i.  THE  HAPLESSNESS  OF  His  PRESENT. 

It  begins  with  a  plaintive  allusion  to  the 
bitter  hostility  of  his  foes  (ver.  3).  Like 
some  distressed  son  of  Jesse,  hunted  as  a 
partridge  upon  the  mountains,  the  Psalmist 
has  been  driven  into  dark  and  desolate 
places,  where,  smitten  to  the  ground 
by  ruthless  persecution,  he  lies  crushed 
and  forgotten,  "  as  those  that  have  been 
long  dead."  It  recalls  the  Erechite's 
lament  over  the  desolation  of  his  father- 
land— 

107 


The  Lenten  Psalms 

"  The  mighty  enemy  has  smitten  me  down  like  a  single 

reed. 
I  mourn  day  and  night  like  the  marshland." l 

The  boom  of  the  bittern  and  the  multi- 
plied cry  of  the  raven  were  the  only  sounds 
that  answered  the  bitterness  of  his  wail. 
Hence  he  continues,  as  in  verse  4 — 

"  My  spirit  fainteth  within  me : 
My  heart  within  me  is  appalled." 

And  this  all  the  more  when  he  reflected  that 
the  chastisement  as  thus  inflicted  was  by 
no  means  undeserved.  An  awakened  con- 
science was  only  too  ready  to  drive  home  the 
sense  of  personal  guilt.  No  doubt  a  son's 
rebellion,  like  that  of  Absalom,  or  the  execra- 
tion of  one  like  Shimei,  was  a  bitter  enough 
experience  in  the  life  of  the  Hebrew 
monarch  ;  but  what  was  rebellion  to 
personal  ungodliness,  and  what  was  execra- 
tion or  biting  scorn  to  the  consciousness 
that  the  man  himself  was  not  right  with 
God  ?  This  was  an  aspect  of  the  persecu- 
tion that  drove  the  iron  into  the  quick ; 

1  Records  of  the  Past,  new  series,  vol.  i.  p.  85. 

1 08 


A  Penitent's  Anthology 

and,  therefore,  the  Psalmist  can  only  pray,  as 
in  verse  2 — 

"  Enter  not  into  judgment  with  Thy  servant : 
For  in  Thy  sight  shall   no  man  living  be  justified." 

Consequently,  in  verses  5,  6,  he  gropes 
around  to  find,  if  possible,  a  way  of  escape 
from  the  dark  prison-house  of  his  fear.  He 
turns,  for  instance,  to  the  brighter  memories 
of  the  past.  With  the  torch  of  memory  he 
hies  back  to  the  contemplation  of  God's 
mighty  acts  in  history,  that  he  may  find  in 
the  record  of  former  days  a  possible  mitiga- 
tion of  his  sorrow. 

"  I  remember  the  days  of  old : 
I  muse  on  the  work  of  Thy  hands." 

It  is  not  necessarily  the  case  that  "  a 
sorrow's  crown  of  sorrow  is  remembering 
happier  things."  It  may  rather  be  the 
pledge  of  a  fresh  infusion  of  hope.  If  only 
the  "  happier  things '  were  instinct  with 
God — alive  with  the  presence  and  power  of 
Jehovah,  the  God  of  Israel — the  recalling  of 
the  events,  instead  of  crowning  sorrow  with 
a  keener  sense  of  loss,  will  only  discrown  it 

109 


The  Lenten  Psalms 

by  the  implanting  of  a  firmer  trust.  And 
that  this  has  been  the  case  with  the  present 
suppliant  is  plain  from  the  strong  appeal 
depicted  in  verse  6.  The  God  who  had 
wrought  so  wondrously  in  the  past  was  the 
sure  refuge  and  stay  of  His  people  still  ; 
and,  therefore,  lifting  his  eyes  to  heaven,  the 
penitent  exclaims — 

"  I  spread  forth  my  hands  unto  Thee ; 
My  soul  thirsteth  after  Thee,   as  a  weary  land." 

Omar  Khayydm  had  no  such  message,  as 
given  in  stansas  72,  76  of  his  great  poem — 

"We  are  no  other  than  a  moving  row 
Of  magic  shadow  shapes  that  come  and  go, 
Round  with  this  Sun-illumined  Lantern  held 
In  midnight  by  the  Master  of  the  Show. 

And  that  inverted  bowl  they  call  the  sky 
Whereunder  crawling  coop'd  we  live  and  die ! 
Lift  not  your  hands  to  it  for  help — for  it 
As  impotently  rolls  as  you  or  I." 

True,  but  it  is  not  an  //  to  which  the 
persecuted  Psalmist  is  now  directing  his 
supplication.  It  is  to  the  God  of  the 
covenant — that  most  spiritual  and  most 
living  of  all  personal  powers,  Jehovah,  the 

no 


A  Penitent's  Anthology 

God  of  Israel.  Directing  his  prayer  to  Him, 
the  penitent  is  persuaded  that  his  hands 
are  not  stretched  forth  in  vain  ;  for  in  all 
the  great  crises  of  the  past  Jehovah  had 
come  in  the  fulness  of  His  covenant  love, 
and  delivered  His  oppressed  people  from 
their  fears,  and  He  would  not  allow  their 
enemies  to  triumph  now  by  leaving  His 
afflicted  servant  in  their  hands.  He  would 
come  in  the  plenitude  of  His  sovereign 
mercy,  and  save  the  fainting  soul  that  was 
turned  to  Him  in  trust.  For  not  more  truly 
did  the  weary  land  long  for  the  refreshing 
and  life-giving  rain  than  did  the  soul  of  the 
Psalmist  pant  for  a  renewal  of  God's  former 
blessings.  And  this  would  be  the  unfailing 
expression  of  his  confidence  now  :  his  soul, 
no  less  than  his  prayer,  would  be  turned 
towards  Jehovah.  He  would  say  with 
Herbert  in  his  own  quaint  rhyme — 

"Lord,   who  createdst  man  in  wealth  an.l  store, 

Though  foolishly  he  lost  the  same, 

Decaying  more  and  more, 

Till  he  became 

Most  poor: 

III 


The  Lenten  Psalms 

With  Thee 
Let  me  combine 
And  feel  this  day  Thy  victorie ; 
For  if  I  imp  my  wing  on  Thine, 
Affliction  shall  advance  the  flight  in  me." 

This  is  the  gracious  conclusion  of  the 
first  part  of  the  afflicted  man's  anthology. 
He  spreads  out  his  hapless  condition  before 
Jehovah,  the  God  of  Israel,  and  prays  for 
deliverance. 

2.  THE  GREATNESS  OF   His  FUTURE  HOPE. 

As  if  to  ratify  the  conclusion  already 
reached  in  the  first  part,  he  prepares  the 
way  for  this  wider  conception  by  a  reiterated 
prayer  for  deliverance,  saying,  as  in  verse  9 — • 

"  Deliver  me,  O  Lord,  from  mine  enemies : 
I  flee  unto  Thee  to  hide  me." 

For  until  he  was  delivered,  as  Israel  had 
been,  from  the  hated  yoke  of  the  oppressor, 
what  hope  was  there  that  he  would  be 
continued  in  the  land  of  the  living  at  all  ? 
His  spirit  would  fail  utterly,  and  he  himself 
would  become  like  "  those  that  go  down  into 

112 


A  Penitent's  Anthology 

the  pit."  Hence  he  prays,  as  in  verse  8, 
but  reading  the  verb  "to  satisfy,"  as  in 
Ps.  xc.  14. 

"O  satisfy  me  in  the  morning  with  Thy  mercy; 
For  in  Thee  do  I  trust." 

Having  turned  his  face  towards  the  dawn, 
like  those  who  watch  for  the  morning,  he 
looks,  and  waits,  and  longs  for  deliverance, 
saying  with  Phinehas  Fletcher — 

"  As  a  watchman  waits  for  day, 
And  looks  for  light  and  looks  again, 
When  the  night  grows  old  and  gray, 
To  be  relieved  he  calls  amain : 
So  look,   so  wait,  so  long  my  eyes 
To  see  my  Lord,  my  Sun,  arise." 

It  is  on  the  basis  of  this  hope  that  he 
proceeds  in  verses  8£,  10-12,  to  offer  a 
threefold  prayer  for  a  brighter  and  nobler 
future.  He  longs  for  a  walk  in  fellowship 
with  Jehovah,  which  would  be  characterised 
by  knowledge,  obedience,  and  love. 

He  prays,  first,  that  his  walk  with 
Jehovah  may  be,  at  least,  a  thing  of  know- 
ledge. 

H  113 


The  Lenten  Psalms 

"  Cause  me  to  know  the  way  wherein  I  should  walk ; 
For  I  lift  up  my  soul  unto  Thee." 

It  was  with  these  words  that  Savonarola 
resolved  to  renounce  the  world,  and  become 
a  monk  in  the  Dominican  monastery  at 
Bologna.  All  through  his  youth  the  hard- 
featured  stripling  had  brooded  over  the 
wickedness  and  misery  of  the  times,  until, 
as  he  informed  his  father  after  the  event, 
with  the  words  of  Ps.  cxliii.  8  upon  his 
lips,  he  fled  to  the  sanctuary  of  the  cloister 
to  escape,  if  possible,  the  stifling  atmosphere 
by  which  he  had  been  surrounded  outside. 
But  alas,  the  monastic  order  itself  was  by 
no  means  immaculate.  For  seven  years  he 
remained  at  Bologna,  spending  his  time  in 
prayer  and  penitence,  and  trying  to  find 
comfort  and  recreation  in  teaching  the 
novices,  but  finding  every  day  his  heart 
overwhelmed  with  grief,  and  stirred  to 
irrepressible  indignation  by  beholding  the 
debasement  and  scandalous  corruption  of 
the  papal  Church.  Transferred  at  last  to 
Florence  in  1481,  and  elected  Prior  of 
St.  Mark's,  he  felt  that  a  very  different 

114 


A  Penitent's  Anthology 

estimate  of  life  and  duty  must  now  char- 
acterise his  later  and  maturer  teaching.  As 
Villari  has  so  well  expressed  it  in  his  Life 
and  Times,  it  was  no  longer  a  question  of 
"forsaking  the  world,  but  of  living  in  its 
midst  in  order  to  purify  it:  it  was  his 
business  to  train  men,  not  to  be  good 
hermits,  but  worthy  monks,  living  an  ex- 
emplary life,  and  ready  to  shed  their  blood  for 
the  salvation  of  souls."  In  other  language, 
his  prayer  for  Divine  knowledge  had  led  him 
farther  than  he  deemed.  It  had  led  him 
away  from  the  hermit-like  existence  of  the 
cloister  altogether,  to  fight  a  hard  battle,  and, 
if  need  be,  to  suffer  and  die,  in  the  broad 
thoroughfares  of  the  world. 

All  this,  however,  was  simply  to  enter 
into  the  second  element  of  the  Psalmist's 
prayer,  just  as  it  had  become  the  accepted 
motto  of  Savonarola  himself,  that  all 
genuine  knowledge  of  the  Divine  purpose 
must  be  loyally  translated  into  obedience. 
So  verse  10 — 

"Teach  me  to  do  Thy  will;  for  Thou  art  my  God: 
Thy  spirit  is  good  ;  lead  me  in  the  land  of  uprightness." 


The  Lenten  Psalms 

The  reformer's  motto  was,  Tanto  sa  ciasenno 
quanto  opera — "As  much  as  one  knows,  so 
much  one  does" — and,  therefore,  he  pur- 
sued his  thankless  task  of  trying  to  purify 
public  life,  and  of  rekindling  faith  in  the 
Church,  even  though  all  the  powers  that  be 
were  arranged  against  him.  Like  Robert 
Browning,  he  was 

"One  who  never  turned  his  back,  but  marched  breast 

forward, 

Never  doubted  clouds  would  break, 
Never   dreamed,    though   right  were  worsted,   wrong 

would  triumph, 

Held  we  fall  to    rise,  are  baffled  to   fight  better, 
Sleep  to  wake." 

And  that  this  lesson  is  enforced  by  every 
page  in  the  history  of  Israel  is  evident  to 
every  one  who  reads,  as  Savonarola  did,  the 
Old  Testament  story.  Knowledge  of  the 
Divine  will  is  never  sufficient :  it  must  be 
knowledge  that  is  followed  by  obedience. 
The  language  of  the  pious  in  Israel  must 
ever  be,  "Lo,  I  come,  I  delight  to  do  Thy 
will,  O  my  God."  Apart  from  this,  even 
sacrifice  was  an  abomination  and  worship  a 

116 


A   Penitent's  Anthology 

snare.  And,  therefore,  the  magnates  of 
Samaria,  not  less  than  Saul,  the  son  of 
Kish,  must  listen  to  the  same  teaching,  that 
obedience,  and  not  sacrifice,  was  the  pleasure 
of  the  Lord  ;  "  doing  justly,"  and  not  mere 
outward  observance,  was  His  delight. 

But  if  so,  they  must  be  prepared  for  the 
third  essential  element  in  the  Psalmist's 
prayer,  that  if  knowledge  has  been  followed 
by  obedience,  obedience,  in  turn,  must  be 
inspired  and  beautified  by  love.  The 
"  delight ' '  referred  to  by  the  pious  in  Israel 
can  be  attained  in  no  other  way.  Apart 
from  the  life-giving  breath  of  covenant  love, 
obedience,  however  perfect,  is  but  the  service 
of  a  noble  slave  :  it  is  not  the  free  and 
spontaneous  service  of  a  happy  child.  And 
therefore,  in  verses  n,  12,  the  Psalmist 
prays — 

"  Quicken  me,  O  Lord,  for  Thy  name's  sake ; 
•  ••••• 

For  I  am  Thy  servant." 

"  Earnest  love,"  said  Savonarola,  "  is  truly  a 
great  might,  for  it  can  do  all  things.  .  .  . 
Nought  can  be  done  save  by  the  impulse  of 

117 


The  Lenten  Psalms 

love."  In  other  words,  the  "  quickening ' 
referred  to  is  the  energising  of  the  human 
spirit  with  the  life  and  love  of  Jehovah — a 
Divine  inbreathing  which  transforms  work 
into  worship,  and  obedience  into  a  pure  and 
holy  joy.  And  as  this  Divine  transformation 
finds  its  fullest  expression  in  the  sphere  of 
mutual  affection,  the  quickening  desired  is 
simply  the  inflaming  of  human  love  until 
it  beats  in  unison  with  the  Divine.  "  Lo,  I 
come  :  in  the  volume  of  the  book  it  is  written 
of  me,  I  delight  to  do  Thy  will,  O  my  God.*' 
Knowledge,  obedience,  love  !  It  is  a  high 
ideal,  and  little  marvel  if  the  Psalmist 
faltered  as  he  gazed  at  the  heights  and 
reflected  on  the  fulness  of  his  vision — 
faltered,  indeed,  so  much,  that  feeling  him- 
self thrust  back  once  more  into  the  hapless- 
ness  of  his  present,  he  paused  and  trembled, 
lest,  through  the  opposition  of  his  foes,  his 
prayer  for  Divine  fellowship  should  be 
thwarted  after  all.  And  yet  in  the  plea,  "for 
Thy  names  sake"  he  had  taken  his  stand  on  a 
rock  that  never  could  be  shaken.  He  had 
fallen  back  on  the  revealed  will  and  character 

118 


A  Penitent's   Anthology 

of  Israel's  God,  and  before  that  "  memorial ' 
enemies  could  do  nothing.  Righteousness 
and  loving-kindness  (vers.  n,  12)  were 
woven  together  in  one  perfect  plea,  just  as 
righteousness  and  faithfulness  (ver.  i)  were 
combined  in  the  Psalmist's  opening  cry.  So 
that,  despite  the  hostility  of  his  foes,  or 
the  hapless  condition  of  his  present  lot,  the 
penitent  might  well  come  in  the  strength 
of  a  perfect  trust,  and  lay  his  anthology  of 
sorrow  upon  the  altar.  He  might  come 
with  his  threefold  prayer  for  knowledge, 
obedience,  and  love,  and  conclude  his  earnest 
supplication,  as  we  too  would  close  these 
readings  in  the  Penitential  Psalms,  with  the 
words — 

"Quicken  me,  O  Lord,  for  Thy  name's  sake; 
For  I  am  Thy  servant." 


APPENDIX. 

SOME  ADDITIONAL  READING. 

IN  studying  the  Penitential  Psalms  with  a 
view  to  expository  preaching,  the  following 
easily  accessible  literature  should  be  care- 
fully consulted,  (i)  Professor  Kirkpatrick's 
admirable  volumes  on  The  *Boo^  of  Tsalms, 
in  "  The  Cambridge  Bible  for  Schools  and 
Colleges."  For  any  part  of  the  Song-Book 
of  Israel,  these  three  volumes,  designed  for 
the  English  reader,  are  simply  invaluable. 
Then  (2)  for  spiritual  insight  and  felicity 
of  phrase,  give  us  Maclaren  in  the  Ex- 
positor's Bible.  His  volume  on  Colossians 
may  be  the  best  thing  he  ever  did  in  ex- 
pounding a  New  Testament  Epistle ;  but 
here,  also,  in  many  psalms  he  touches  the 
high-water  mark  of  pulpit  exposition.  The 
freshness  of  thought,  no  less  than  the  grace 
of  diction,  is  sometimes  superb.  If  the 
preacher  can  add  (3)  the  sanity  and  solidity 
of  Calvin,  and  (4)  the  spiritual  savour  and 
quaintness  of  Matthew  Henry  (books  that 
might  be  more  read  than  they  are),  he  will 
have  all  that  he  needs  for  the  quickening 

121 


Appendix 

of  his  own  thought  or  the  interest  and 
instruction  of  his  hearers.  (5)  Historical 
illustrations  of  the  Psalms  in  human  life  are 
of  special  value  to  the  Christian  expositor, 
and  as  Trothero  is  now  issued  by  Nelson 
&  Sons  in  the  "Library  of  Notable  Books," 
it  is  brought  within  the  reach  of  all. 

For  the  Hebrew  student,  however,  the 
main  preparation  for  expository  preaching 
has  yet  to  be  noted.  Nothing  can  take  the 
place  of  a  first-hand  acquaintance  with  the 
text.  Every  hour  spent  over  the  Hebrew 
and  Greek  words  will  save  many  hours 
afterwards  in  wading  through  other  courses 
of  expository  or  homiletical  reading.  It 
may  readily  be  accepted  as  an  axiom  in 
Biblical  exposition,  that  the  study  of  syntax, 
synonyms,  and  figures  of  speech  is  the  great 
time-saver  in  the  subsequent  preaching  of 
the  Word.  The  present  writer  can  only 
repeat  the  conviction  expressed  at  pp.  10-11 
of  his  Sermons  in  Accents,  and  illustrated  in 
the  specimen  page  for  a  Student's  Note-'Book 
at  p.  192,  that  the  motto  for  all  those  who 
are  beginning  the  task  of  expository  lectur- 
ing is,  "  Back  to  the  Hebrew  text." 


122 


INDEX. 


A.  SCRIPTURE  PASSAGES. 


Ex.  iii.  15     . 
Lev.  xiii.  3    .         . 
2  Sam.  xii.  7 

„      xvi.  12 
Isa.  xxvi.  7    . 

„     liii.  7 
Jer.  i.  11-12. 

,,    x.  24       . 

,,    xii.  1-5  . 
Ezek.  xxxvi.  26-27 
Hos.  xi.  8     . 
Mic.  vii.  1 8  . 
Obad.  12 
Ps.  vii.  5 

,,   xxvii.  ii . 

,,    xxxvii.  37 

„    ad.  7-8    . 


PAGE 

77 
39 
93 
44 
106 

44 

74 

6 

29 


100 

105 
1 06 

95 
116 


Ps.  Ixvi.  13  . 

,,    Ixxvii.  5-12 

,,    xc.  14  . 
Job  ii.  8 

,,  vii.  5 

,,  xvi.  3  . 

,,  xix.  13-22 

,,    XXX.   22  . 

Lam.  iii.  6  . 

Neh.  ix.  20  . 
Luke  xv. 
Acts  x.  4 

Phil.  ii.  20  . 
Jas.  v.  II 

I  John  i.  8  . 

„       i.  9  . 


B.  QUOTATIONS. 


Bacon  ....  41 

Browning      .         .         .  116 

Browning,  Mrs.     .         .  76 

Bunyan          ...  27 

Calvin  ...          3,  121 

Chalmers,  Dr.        .         .  60 

Fletcher,  Phinehas         .  113 

Gebirol,  Solomon  Ibn    .  92 

Henry,  Matthew   .3,  101,  121 
Herbert          .         .         .in 

Hooker          ...  87 

Khayyam,  Omar   .         .  no 

Kipling          ...  63 


Lamb,  Charles      . 
Luther  .         .         . 
Macdonald,  George 
Newman 

Records  of  the  Past 
Rossetti,  Christina 
Savonarola    . 
Scougal,  Henry     . 
Trench . 

Wesley,  John         . 
Wordsworth . 


PAGE 

II 

105 

H3 

37 
37 
39 
39 
7i 

105 
106 

27 
69 
60 
94 
19 
25 


.       98 

•  87 

•  59 
.      48 
.     108 

6 
114-117 

•  59 
.      98 
.      99 

65 


Wren,  Sir  Christopher  .       80 


123 


Index 


C.  SUBJECTS. 


Chastisement 

Church,  the  . 
Confession  . 
Confidence  . 
Conscience  . 
Covenant-love 

Faith    . 
Forgiveness  . 
Holiness 
Humility 
Individual,  the 
Memory        . 


PAGE 

5-9,  55, 

Nature,  the 

music  of 

PAGE 

4 

78,  88,  100 

Obedience 

* 

• 

•     IJ5 

52,  75-80 

Patience 

• 

• 

94-97 

23-25 

Praise   « 

• 

• 

ii,  3i 

13-14,  99 

Prayer  . 

to 

15,  51-65,  69, 

22 

1  13—1  19 

9-12,  55, 

Repentance 

• 

* 

•       47 

77,  88,  100 

Sacrifices 

• 

• 

64 

47,88 

Service 

• 

• 

61-65 

26-28 

Sin 

19-22,  42 

,  53-55- 

57-61 

89-90 

63,  97-99 

Suffering 

• 

.    12 

>  37-41, 

52,  70-75 

71-74,  93. 

107-112 

.     109 

THE 

SHORT  COURSE  SERIES 

EDITED  BY 
Rev.   JOHN  ADAMS,   B.D. 


THIS  Series  is  designed  to  encourage  a  healthy  re- 
action in  the  direction  of  expository  preaching. 
Leading  expositors  in  all  the  Churches  have  kindly 
promised  assistance;  and  the  Series,  to  be  issued 
at  the  uniform  price  of  60  cents  net  per  volume,  will 
furnish  a  sufficiently  large  variety  for  individual 
selection. 


READY  IN  AUTUMN  1912. 
A  CRY  FOR  JUSTICE:  A  Study  in  Amos. 

By  Prof.  J.  E.  MCFADYEN,  D.D.,  U.  F.  C.  College, 
Glasgow. 

THE  BEATITUDES. 

By  Rev.  ROBERT  H.  FISHER,  D.D.,  Edinburgh. 

THE  LENTEN  PSALMS. 

By  the  Editor. 

THE  EXPOSITORY  VALUE  OF  THE  REVISED 
VERSION. 

By  Prof.  G.  MILLIGAN,  D.D.,  University  of  Glasgow. 

THE  VISIONS  OF  ZECHARIAH. 

By  Prof.  JAMES  STALKER,  D.D.,  Aberdeen.   . 


The  following  other  volumes  are  in 
Preparation. 

THE  STORY  OF  JOSEPH. 

By  Rev.  ADAM  C.  WELCH,  B.D.,  Th.D.,  Glasgow. 

SCENES  FROM  THE  LIFE  OF  DAVID. 

By  Prof.  H.  R.  MACKINTOSH,  D.D.,  Edinburgh. 

SOME  ASPECTS  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

By  Rev.  CANON  VAUGHAN,  M.A.,  Winchester. 

THE  PROPHECY  OF  MICAH. 

By  Principal  A.  J.  TAIT,  M.A.,  Ridley  Hall,  Cambridge. 

THE  MISSIONARY  IDEA  IN  THE  OLD  TESTA- 
MENT. 

By  Prof.  W.  G.  JORDAN,  D.D.,  Kingston,  Ontario. 

JEHOVAH-JESUS. 

By  Rev.  THOMAS  WHITELAW,  D.D.,  Kilmaraock. 

A  PREFACE  TO  THE  GOSPEL:  An  Exposition  of 
Isaiah  55. 

By  Rev.  A.  SMELLIE,  D.D.,  Carluke. 

READINGS  IN  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  LUKE. 

By  Prof.  W.  EMERY  BARNES,  D.D.,  Cambridge. 

THE  PARABLE  OF  THE  PRODIGAL  SON. 

By  Principal  A.  E.  GARVIE,  D.D.,  New  College,  London. 

BELIEF  AND  LIFE:    Expositions  in  the  Fourth 
Gospel. 

By  Principal  W.  B.  SELBIE,  D.D.,  Mansfield  College, 
Oxford. 


THE  EMOTIONS  OF  JESUS. 

By  Prof.  ROBERT  LAW,  D.D.,  Toronto. 

THE  HIGHER  POWERS  OF  THE  SOUL. 

By  Rev.  GEORGE  M'HARDY,  D.D.,  Kirkcaldy. 

THE  UPPER  ROOM. 

By  Rev.  D.  J.  BURRILL,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  New  York. 

THE  "I  AM'S"  OF  OUR  LORD. 

By  Rev.  THOMAS  MARJORIBANKS,  B.D.,  Edinburgh. 

THE  SEVEN  WORDS  FROM  THE  CROSS. 

By  Rev.  A.  B.  MACAULAY,  M.A.,  Stirling. 

THE  PRAYERS  OF  ST.  PAUL. 

By  Pwf.  W.  G.  GRIFFITH  THOMAS,  D.D.,  Toronto. 

THE  METAPHORS  OF  ST.  PAUL. 

By  Rev.  A.  BOYD  SCOTT,  B.D.,  Glasgow. 

THE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 

By  Rev.  F.  STUART-GARDINER,  B.D.,  Kingstown,  Ire- 
land. 

THE  REDEMPTION  OF  GOD. 

By  Prof.  T.  B.  KILPATRICK,  D.D.,  Toronto. 

STUDIES  IN  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

By  Prof.  W.  T.  DAVTSON,  D.D.,  Richmond. 

EXPOSITORY  STUDIES. 

By  Prof.  ARTHUR  S.  PEAKE,  D.D.,  Manchester. 

SOCIAL  STUDIES. 

By  Rev.  CANON  SIMPSON,  M.A.,  D.D.,  St.  Paul's, 
London. 


OPINIONS  OF  WEIGHT. 

"I  thank  you  very  heartily  for  a  copy  of  your 
•'Lenten  Psalms/  Your  'Short  Course  Series'  finds 
in  this  volume  an  interesting  example  of  the  kind  of 
book  you  are  proposing  to  produce.  It  is  brightly 
written,  and  is  full  of  stimulating  illustration.  I 
think  it  exceedingly  likely  the  plan  may  meet  a  mod- 
ern want.  The  Bible  as  a  backbone  for  preaching 
appeals  to  people  better  than  general  sentiment  or 
edifying  exhortation  of  a  vague  type." 

Bishop  RYLE,  D.D.,  Dean  of  Westminster. 

"The  book  is  attractive  in  a  high  degree,  and  noth- 
ing could  be  better  calculated  to  stimulate  expository 
preaching  in  the  Churches.  One  may  confidently 
anticipate  for  the  Series  a  genuine  success." 

H.  R.  MACKINTOSH,  D.D.,  Edinburgh. 

"May  I  express  my  own  judgment  that  you  are 
working  a  very  fruitful  line,  and  that  it  will  be  most 
acceptable  to  a  great  many  readers." 

J.  H.  JOWETT,  D.D.,  New  York. 

"I  arn  wholly  with  you  in  this.  And  I  wish  you 
great  success  in  what  you  are  proposing  to  do.  Your 
plan  will  help  us  all  to  give  a  scriptural  breadth  and 
fulness  to  our  pulpit  work.  For  this  and  other  rea- 
sons I  hail  your  proposal,  and  shall  do  all  that  I  can 
to  further  your  good  work." 

Principal  ALEXANDER  WHYTE,  D.D.,  Edinburgh. 

"You  have  got  hold  of  a  fine  idea,  and  your  Series, 
I  am  sure,  will  fulfil  a  most  necessary  ministry. 
There  is  vast  need  of  just  such  expository  preaching 
as  you  wish  to  encourage." 

ALEXANDER  SMELLIE,  D.D.,  Carluke. 


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